


Begging for Forever

by Otterly



Category: Pack Street - Fandom, Zootopia (2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-10-19 04:14:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10631979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Otterly/pseuds/Otterly
Summary: Avo and Wolter are simple. Relatively.That's not a bad thing. They just aren't particularly complex. What you see tends to be what you get.Doesn't necessarily mean that they should mix, though.





	1. It started,

He’d been begging her for, well, forever. Asking her for small favors and the occasional big one. Cooing to her, whispering in her ear to ‘get me this gold plated sleeve, I’ll drop everything I have to marry you and make use of our bed every day until the night I die’, but she never once entertained his pleas.

Today was a weird day, being that it was the first where she had started asking herself why.

Why?

It was a simple enough question, and so her answers were equally as uncomplicated. Her gut reaction was something along the lines of ‘why should I?’, and her collected response after thinking about it for a while was ‘What has he ever done for me?', so that’s what she began to tell him. Or, would begin to tell him, the next time she saw his face in her shop.

Today was Wednesday, right? She checked her phone to make sure, feeling a little moment of relief when her assumption was validated. It was Wednesday, and he was due to swing by. During her shift, probably. No doubt to buy condoms and lube. Wasn’t like he had anything else to buy; he practically owned every model of sleeve that they stocked.

The door at the front opened. Footsteps shuffled through.

Avo reached up to pinch one of her ears, letting the stinging pain bring back her pseudo-professional behaviour. It was high time she stopped pondering on it anyway; Wolter wasn’t exactly worth the thought. The jackal went to her happy place, putting on a relatively neutral look while directing her attention to the cheetah that had just wandered in.

“You here for the showing?” she guessed, nodding back amicably when the feline made a response in the affirmative. “Back room. You have a choice for admission. Deal with me now, or deal with me later. I’m sure you won’t –– you seem like a nice guy –– but I’ll catch you if you try to split without paying for your seat. We clear?”

The cheetah nodded again, and she smiled. “Great. Enjoy the show.”

When he was out of view, the jackal sighed. Her posture deflated as she sank down to lie on the flat surface of her counter, mind filled with different ways of wishing that work would just end already.

“You’re not dead, are you?” a voice asked from behind.

Avo jumped, nearly elbowing whoever was talking in the face, before she spun around. She was unsurprised to find a familiar aardwolf, leaned against the glass counter, and that would have been relatively fine had it not been _her_ side of the glass counter.

Frowning, she nudged him out of her space. "Get outta here. You're not the cashier. You don't get the good side of this counter."

He winked and met her on the right side this time, putting his weight on the counter yet again.

“Hey there, puppy,” Wolt greeted her with a sleazy grin. “Any idea where the condoms are? There’re no more boxes where they usually sit.”

A biting quip nearly made its way out of Avo’s mouth, but her neighbour’s question put a halt to his impending roast. “They’re not there? Hold on.”

She fetched a few boxes of Trojans and banana flavored Bunny-Blockers from the back room, quickly returning to the tiny little fake hyena patiently waiting as he perused their stock of girly magazines, spinning the rotating rack that sat beside the counter.

“How many?”

“A dozen boxes.”

“I’m giving you three. All the ones we have expire in six months and you definitely don’t get that much action.”

“Wanna bet?” Wolter offered with yet another grin.

“God, no,” Avo replied. “I’m not in the mood to see the local hookers suddenly contract mono and the clap all at the same time. Unless they all already have them. In which case, you have no way to prove whether you’ve slept with that many people or not.”

She rung him up, doing her best to ignore the aardwolf’s expectant, hopeful smile as she scanned the boxes and punched the correct keys in on the register.

“Avo,” he started, playing at a poor imitation of a businessman pitching a project. “May I have the privilege to use your employee discount, here, on this very fine evening?”

“Hmm, what’s the word? I don’t know…oh! No.”

She tossed the boxes into a bag and shoved it into the aardwolf’s face.

“Why not?” Wolter inquired, caught off guard somehow. This was nearing the thousandth time he had asked and been rejected, but he managed, every single time, to be completely confused afterwards.

“First of all: it’s _my_  discount you’re after," Avo grabbed a lollipop out of her pocket and began to open it, taking as much time as she pleased to unwrap the wrapper. "I can do whatever the fuck I want with it. Second--" She put the sucker in her mouth. "What, in all the time we’ve known each other, have _you_ ever done for _me_?”

“Huh…” the aardwolf replied, tilting his head. “You’re right! Want me to eat you out?”

Wolt’s goofy grin only received a pair of jaws snapping loudly in his face. He leaned back, playfully receiving the threat in the same way he would a rough lover, and backed away as he made for the door. “Gonna take that as a ‘no’, but you know where to find me, pups. See you tonight!”

He waved as he left the store, getting only a middle finger from the repulsed jackal in return. Once he was out, Avo's glare faltered, and she went back to her staring at the counter and the shelves.

 

* * *

 

“Your brother’s an idiot.”

“What’d he do this time?”

Sometimes, Anneke and Avo could get by without insulting one another. It was much more fun the other way, but this wasn’t a particularly shocking event. The air felt light, and so they treated each other lightly as a result. Parties like this tended to get the entire block excited days in advance, so just about everybody was out and about in the best spirits that they'd probably had all month.

Not Annie and Avo, though. Annie needed to strategize, and Avo had a really boring day at work.

“Why’s he so insistent on that fuckin’ discount?”

“Why do you care so much?” the aardwolf scraped a claw against the surface of the apartment’s outer walls where they were loitering. “Just say no.”

“I…don’t know,” Avo admitted. “Whatever. What are you up to, tonight? No, wait. Let me guess. Prowling for d––“

“You guessed correctly,” she interrupted, smiling slyly at the jackal as she finished what she was scratching onto the brick. She stepped back, admiring her less than stellar rendition of a throbbing penis. “You oughta join me sometime. God knows how lonely you are.”

Avo could only groan in disgust.

Anneke shrugged. “Well, if you won’t seek out some fun, fun’ll find you. Or you’ll go looking for it without realizing.”

“I’ll be sure to remember that.”

“‘Kay, gonna go inspect the meat. I’ll seeya later.”

The aardwolf waved at her, strutting back into the party like a tiger on all fours. All fours…

Avo relished at the thought, not minding that she was giving some credence to Anneke’s accusations before her fantasizing was interrupted by something strange — an ungulate walking out of the apartment.

She had never really believed any of the talk. Sure, she smelled sheep here and there, but there was never any substance to back up the rumors until she had actually seen the ram for herself. Turned out he was like just about every prey that came by their humble abode: nervous, short, looked like someone had tugged on his wool too hard and he was trying his damnedest not to cry.

He made his way into the party, and, sensing something along the lines of bad intentions on him, Avo followed. Stalking wasn’t the right word. Tailed. She tailed him as he went about the crowd, with his grumpy face and cotton candied little head. At one point she thought she had lost him somehow, but she found him again, walking clearly towards Ozzy.

And then she was behind him, taking the same steps he did, silent as the night, which she figured was currently too loud for the little marshmallow. 

“Hey, dude,” the talking ball of stuffing began after he and Ozzy exchanged greetings, speaking with the authority that a boss would have to his employee. “Could you maybe dial the music down just a bit? Trying to get some sleep upstairs.”

Looked like she was right. Man, the nerve on this little lamb was fucking astounding. What, did he expect quiet nights moving here? She spoke loudly and directly as she addressed him. “Tough shit, grazer. Put some of that fuckin’ wool in your ears if it bothers you so much.”

His eyes met hers as he turned around. The ram (Rammy, she thought, that was what Charlie had mentioned to her in the hallway the other day) stared up at her, clearly sleep deprived and just as uptight as he usually looked. It was almost cute. 

Something shifted in him, however, and he raised his hooves submissively, albeit without changing his frown. “Hey, you guys can have your fun. I’m just saying some of us have work in a couple of hours.”

Like Avo was going to let off of him just ‘cause he waved his belly around a little. “Then you shouldn’t have moved to Pack Street. Besides,” she glided to Ozzy’s side. “We don’t need your permission to have fun, do we, guys? Play him off, Ozzy!”

The hyena did as she asked, and Avo took a drink as the party resumed to the opening notes of Ozzy’s song, looking over the crowd of sweaty mammals grinding and kissing and generally having the time of their lives. For once, she didn't know what the think of the fact that she wasn't one of them. She only knew that it wasn't satisfaction.

Which was fine. That only meant that she had to join the party.

* * *

 

Time had passed. She wasn’t sure how much. She only knew that she had been in the lobby for a while.

She examined the walls of her apartment’s hallway, turning as she took in the cheap couches and the surprisingly clean floors. She swirled her cherry sucker around the nimble thing that was her tongue, feeling a familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach.

It looked like she had consumed too much alcohol, and now those cups of beers didn't approve of her intentions to keep them confined to the limits of her digestive system. Pity. The party outside was still raging, though she was sure that she had experienced at least _some_ of it. She just didn’t remember right now. Which was fine -- just fine.

The doors were open, and Wolter was there, groping some tiny coyote that was definitely too young. No one who _didn’t_ spend every waking hour thinking about homework, boys, and stupid TV shows dressed like _that_ , but poor Wolt was likely too sauced to see it for himself. And by sauced he was probably at, like, three drinks in.

Something in Avo’s body lurched, and she willed herself to stay composed. She was much too sick to be thinking of burns right now.

When she looked back up, she met the eyes of the aardwolf outside. Wolt gave her a wink that only served to worsen her growing sickness as she rolled her eyes and looked away. She’d hold off on stopping him for now. Best to wait for the moment right before he took her up to his room. If that moment was every gonna happen. Yeesh. The two drunk sluts wouldn’t get to their love den by the time the night ended if they kept going at this pace. Slurping up on each other, squeezing at tits and rubbing cocks through jeans. What made Wolt so special, anyway? His face? His face wasn’t the worst, sure, but it wasn’t _the best_. Or was Wolt just some kind of wizard at seducing dumb floozies that a: didn’t love themselves, or b: had too much alcohol?

Avo snorted, striding towards the door when she saw a cloud given mammal form walking up the stairs. He was still nervous and stupid looking, but he seemed to be in better spirits as he slowed his pace passing Wolt and his companion.

Curious, she sat down in a nearby recliner and watched as the little wad of used tissue paper gave a good natured cock block.

Wolt’s jailbait was hastily ushered out of the party.

Slowly the sheep approached her, and she was confused at his obliviousness to her place in the corner before remembering that he didn’t have her patented canine night vision. She leaned forward, just barely peeking out of the darkness, and chose to speak only when Romero or whatever his name was had flopped onto one of the threadbare couches. “Real big of you to tattle, grasseater.”

The sheep blinked, squinting around until he finally caught her figure in the blackness. His mouth formed a hard line before he choked out, “I’m not a snitch. I just didn’t want to see that get ugly.”

Cute. Avo’s tongue ran over her lollipop before she spoke again. “Actually, I’m being sincere. Wolter’s been in trouble with the law before. He doesn’t need some jailbait showing up to make it worse.”

She grinned. “Nice of you to take one for the greater good.”

“You know this is a no smoking area, right?”

“Oh what, you still sore because we weren’t willing to drop everything so you could catch a few Z’s?”

His eyes said yes, but she knew he’d want to say no. “Look, pal, I’m really not in the mood.”

“Then get in the mood,” Avo stood up and entered the moonlight. “Most of Pack Street’s nocturnal. Not our problem that you aren’t. If you want to survive here, evolve. Adapt. We’ve been doing it for thousands of years, no reason to stop now.”

The amorphous blob of vanilla yogurt looked insulted. “Thanks for the unsolicited advice. You gonna put that out?”

“Man, you really are a stick in the mud,” she raised an eyebrow, popping the piece of candy from her mouth and showing it off. “Like our friend Wolter just learned, not everything’s what it appears to be.”

A sinkhole of thought opened and the sheep fell into it, froggy eyes fading from the now as he spaced out over Avo’s statement. She couldn’t lie; the sight amused her to no end. A wave of affection washed over her –– maybe it was the booze –– and she came over ruffle the wool on his head.

“Hey,” he began, suddenly back to reality. “I’ve ha—mmph!”

The pile of sapient sugar was interrupted by the jackal’s lollipop invading his mouth. Grumpy asshole-ish tendencies aside, Avo felt like she was going to like this sheep. He made a perfect verbal chewtoy. Her grin widened, and she offered him a last piece of advice before walking out the door. “I meant what I said about the wool earlier. Goodnight.”

She stepped out into a block party that was still in full swing. Ozzy was still jamming, mammals still drinking, Al’s sliders still coming in hot and ready. Avo saw nearly everyone she knew, save for the only pair of aardwolves on the block. Annie was inside the apartment, she knew that, but her middlingly drunk mind couldn’t help her next thought.

Where was Wolter?

Paralyzed for a moment, Avo noted that she was, once again, thinking about Wolter. She pondered on it for a second, but shrugged internally and set about for the aardwolf’s whereabouts. It wasn’t like there was anything better to do. Well, _anything_ could have been better to do, but she couldn’t think of anything at this moment.

She found herself handed another beer, which she chugged before snatching another one from a nearby lion and shotgunning it.

She made small talk with the lion whose beer she totally jacked, flirting with him a little before realizing that she had a task. It took her a while to leave him. He really was quite cute.

She found that the extra beer totally made her sicker. After a few minutes spent crouched in a corner she entered one of the open houses (most likely open for strangers to walk in, otherwise what would be the point?), quietly used the bathroom, and left undetected.

He was in eyesight when she left, sat on a stool and nursing a beer like she had attempted to do earlier. He looked happy enough, but the lack of an accompanying easy female was definitely noticeable. There was a coyote whom she had previously made acquaintance with as well, sitting on his own seat and looking dark and serious.

And so it was that Wolter looked so ordinarily fine that it made her feel disappointed to have sought him out in the first place.

Mission accomplished. What was she even expecting?

Not this. That was for sure.

She took a step in the opposite direction, and the world immediately whirled around her as her feet spun her back the other way. No way she was just gonna _leave_. He owed her something. That was reasonable. At the very least he had to know that she had wasted her precious time on him.

“Hey, Mark,” she greeted the coyote as she walked up, pointedly ignoring Wolt. “What’re you two up to?”

“Not much,” Mark nodded in reply, and his eyes flicked between her and the aardwolf before he set them elsewhere. “I was just leaving, actually. See you.”

The jackal raised her drink to the coyote as he left, waiting until he was generally out of hearing range before taking his seat and turning to her packmate. “The hell was that?”

“Nothing, really,” Wolter waved her off, relaxed as ever, but with a layer of reserve that was out of the ordinary. “Guy just couldn’t admit that Hyena Gomez is leagues below Gazelle in terms of fuckability.”

“Stupid bullshit, then. Gotcha.”

“Stupid?” the aardwolf looked positively scandalized. “People thinking that rubber ball of stripes is hotter than Gazelle is whats stupid. I mean, Hyena’s still hella hot, but you gotta be realistic with this kind of stuff.”

“Uh-huh,” she raised a brow. “Speaking of fuckability, it’s a little weird to see you alone.”

“And is that why Your Highness came to keep me company?” Wolter asked, a teasing smirk on his face.

“The only thing I’m coming to _do_  is,” she paused. “I mean. I looked for you. I spent, like, _ten minutes_ walking around! You…owe me for wasting my time.”

“Oh, Avo,” the aardwolf dragged his stool closer to her and leaned forward, dropping his smile as it came closer and closer to her mouth. “How much have you had to drink?”

“More than you,” she sniped. “I mean, like, more than you _and_ I’m still holding it. So, fuck off.”

Wolter raised a brow. “We in a rom-com or something? Puppy, if you want to fool around, that’s great. My offer from earlier stands. Just don’t make it weird or anything. S’not like we’re getting married or moving in with each other.”

Avo felt dizzy, and suddenly she felt the body heat of the sixty-plus mammals as if it were radiating onto her and her alone.

Easy, simple, and convenient. Like a gas station. She was getting fuel, and then she’d be off on her travels in a flash. Like every other transaction she’d made with him. Only this time she was buying.

“Your sister’s probably in your apartment,” she told him, hating him more than ever. “We can use mine.”

 

* * *

 

Avo woke in the early morning, somewhere past three but before five, but somehow not feeling exactly like four. She was naked in her bed. Without the covers. Surprisingly, though, she was warm. She suspected that it was thanks to the toasty, breathing thing in her arms.

A moment passed before she recollected. She had slept with Wolt, and now he was sleeping with her.

She fidgeted, feeling his cum leak out of her in an undignified manner that made her blush. Not like there was a way that could happen with any shame intact.

Almost, but not quite in sync with her waking, the aardwolf in her arms stirred, slowly opening his eyes to look at her face. The look he acquired upon doing so told her that he thought she looked cute, and apparently something inside her thought that this was flattering enough to let him kiss her.

The actual kiss itself didn’t fluster her further, but the little “smek” sound that they made did.

Geez, what the hell did she just do?

“That was a nice nap,” Wolt offered sleepily, as if answering her. “Mmm, yeah, _really_ nice nap. Oh, and the sex was great, too.”

He stretched, cracking his back a little before flopping against her chest. She felt him nuzzle and kiss at the space between her navel and her breasts, cooing at her with his lazy drawl of a voice. “You okay?”

“Just fine,” Avo replied, still eternally embarrassed that she was more than that. “I’m gonna go and get in the shower.”

“Innabit,” Wolter purred into her. “I’m too chill right now.”

“Careful, now, shortstack. I know you have a problem with taking too long, but you really don’t want to overstay your welcome in my house.”

“This isn’t a house, and I think I took the right amount of time, considering the puddle you left on the sheets,” he giggled, beginning to play with the fluff on her chest. “Man, I had no idea you were so flexible. Makes sense, I guess. All that time at Packers paying off.”

She grabbed his arm, squeezing it with all the intention to rip it off, but she thought better about it. Being callous right now wouldn’t serve anything, after what they just did. Her grip relaxed, and her gaze turned to the wall. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, in case you didn’t notice.”

Wolter chuckled, still pressed against her. He moved his face, dragging it against her so he could direct his playful smile at her face. “Don’t make me cry, babe. I know you plenty!”

“If you could guess something personal about my life correctly, I’d be hard pressed to give you two thousand dollars in cash. And a rimjob.”

“You like to watch popcorn pop so you cook it in a pan with a see through lid, and you like to dry yourself off in the summer by lying in the sun.”

The baseless, oddly specific guesses made her smile, despite things, and she began to look at him instead of the wall. “Try again, tiny-dick. Everybody loves that.”

“That’s not fair!”

“Neither is the fact that you’re the best I could do considering the whole block was out and drunk off their ass.”

Seconds of silence went by as Wolter attempted to think of something more. “Your…favorite color is black.”

“You’re barely even trying at this point.”

“Then throw me a bone, babe,” he begged, tone instantly switching to flirtatious as he added, “I’ve been giving one to you all night. It’s only fair.”

Avo glared at him. The temptation to toss him off the bed was growing stronger and stronger.

“What? This is pillow talk. Delayed pillow talk, sure. But its still pillow talk, and mammals, you know, share things. During pillow talk. This is a time for sharing, is what I’m trying to say. Them’s the rules.”

“I thought you didn’t want to make this weird,” she pointed out.

“Intimate isn’t weird, puppy. It’s all a part of the package,” Wolter replied, grandly gesturing with a paw. “And the package says you gotta talk to me so you don’t ruin the ambivalence.”

“It’s ambiance.”

“Ambiance.”

The jackal was tempted further to roll her eyes, but stopped at the last second. She didn’t have anything to be scared of, did she? It’s not like he was asking for her darkest secret, and even then her darkest secret was more of a grey than a jet black. She wasn’t a murderer or anything.

“The lube from those condoms I sold you today makes for really good chapstick. ”

Wolter said nothing for a moment. Then he suddenly broke into a giggle. “Thank god, dude. I was expecting a life story or maybe some tears.”

“Nope.”

A few more waves of soft laughter washed over him before he calmed down for good. “Well, that’s a little too much for me to do on the reg, but if I ever run out of chapstick and I really need some, I guess I can swing it.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway,” Avo stretched, and smoothly tried to lay a hand on Wolter’s back. “Was that good enough for you? I’d like to get into the shower now, if that’s okay.”

His smile widened. She found it embarrassing how embarrassed she was that her gesture didn’t go unnoticed.

“Sure,” he said. “Can I come?”

“If you want.”

“Not gonna make me beg?”

“I don’t know,” Avo said, using her hand to gently push Wolter off as she finally slipped out from under him. She glanced back when she was on the edge of the bed, wanting to wink but simply staring instead. “Do you want me to?”


	2. It went on,

Three. Four. No, more than that. She had hooked up with Wolt seven more times since that night at the party. Tonight would be the eighth. They’d been doing this basically once a week, on and off. It’d been a month — almost two. Most of it was actually from her own initiative, as he never pressed her for anything more than what they agreed upon. It was convenient, easy, and sometimes her friendly neighbourhood lube connoisseur could actually be decent company for a few minutes and nothing more than that ever.

Needless to say, Avo didn’t regret it as much as she thought she would. Turned out that a healthy sex life was an incredibly useful thing to have when one dealt with boredom and whiny customers all day.

She stared at her reflection, thinking that she looked amazing on her glass counter, cleaned recently enough so it was practically sparkling compared to a few weeks ago, looking for any mistakes in her makeup or stray grease from the fish taco she bought for lunch. Neil always made the best shit, but he ran out of limes by the time she got to the front of the line. The taco still ended up great, but there was a nagging voice in her mind telling her that it could have been better. Still, she found no grease, and even though it wouldn’t have been his fault she gave him a point for that anyway.

Friday shifts never felt too long. They were busy, sure, but not any busier than any other day of the week. Saturdays were what you had to watch out for. Lots of people buying adult health products on Saturday. Speaking of, she probably had to restock on condoms…

The door at the front opened, and footsteps shuffled in.

Avo shook her head free of daydreams. Plans and aardwolves could wait for now.

Click, clack. Click, clack. The footsteps came further in, and she quickly realized that the scuffing was due to the fact that they weren’t the clawed kind. This customer was hoofed. Amusement spread through her as a familiar scent found her nose, and she simply twirled the lollipop in her mouth until the ram came into view.

She grinned, teeth digging into the candy. “Hey there, puffy stuff.”

Remmy Cormo looked up at her through eyes made of double dashes, looking like he was seconds away from a nervous bleat. “A-Avo,” he stuttered. “I didn’t realize that you were working today.”

“Yeah? Well, I am. You come to swipe our new pred-play paraphernalia?”

He shook his head ‘no’, but Avo suspected it was only because he was, up until that point, unaware of their new wolf sleeves and collars. She watched as his eyes travelled across the shiny promotional stands and widened in either desire or shock. Both, in all likelihood.

“I’m fine,” Remmy said, not fine and not in any mindset to be exchanging banter.

“Then to what do I owe the _pleasure_? Getting another sleeve? Did you fuck up that other one?”

“I was just looking to say hi to Dora. Since I was in the neighbourhood and everything.”

“Oh,” Avo twirled her lollipop round her mouth. The new sour cherry that they’d started stocking at the convenience store was really hitting the spot lately. She felt like it could make her talk faster. Think smarter. “Well, Dora’s not in right now. Haven’t seen at all today, now that I think about it.”

“Oh.”

“Yep.”

“Where is she, then?”

The wolf shrugged, started to get ticked off despite the delicious flavor of her lollipop covering her tongue. “I don’t know, fluff. Do I look like I get paid to keep track of my boss?”

“Guess not,” Remmy raised a gigantic caterpillar brow. “Thanks, though.”

“No problem, cheese curd,” Avo chirped, a little too happy. “You ever think of signing up for Timbr? They got plenty of pred girls — or guys — that would probably be _ecstatic_ to cater to your taste for claws, and sharp teeth, and giant tigers, evidently.”

“Leaving now.”

“I’m serious! All you gotta do is take that leap, Remmy.”

He was walking towards the exit now. “Bye, Avo.”

“I know that it’s scary, but sometimes you just gotta put yourself out there. It’s hard, and you’re definitely want to quit...so you should, now that I think about it. Who knows, though? Don’t listen to me. You might find the right mammal for you. Maybe someone who can even like the fact that you look like you’re gonna piss yourself all the time.” The middle finger she received in response only stretched her shit-eating grin further and further. “See you later, stiff peaks!”

She stretched leisurely as the door closed, leaving her once again with an empty, silent shop. This time, she wasn’t bored enough to be thinking about her greasy tacos. The flashing lights and dramatic displays around the counter suddenly felt a little more like what they were advertising: Exciting, fun ways to live out your wildest dreams, oozing energy which perked Avo’s ears up and made her tail wag.

“Smiling to yourself?” a voice purred from behind. “Should I be jealous of anyone?”

“Har, har,” Avo turned. “You just missed the cotton candy.”

“Did I?” Wolter gazed at the front door, almost in longing. “Damn. Gotta stop using the back door, I guess. Oh — Actually! Speaking of using the back door…”

“Dude, no.”

“What? Oh. Geez, I mean, I don’t think I’d mind if you were ever down, but I just wanted to ring this up,” he put a box that she didn’t realize he was holding up on the counter. Small, but glossy and glamorous. With an odd shade of green that she had never seen before (she’d later realize that this was because the toy glowed in the dark).

“A butt-plug?”

“Hey, now. Don’t look at me like that. This is for Anna. She just had me pick it up ‘cause I was in the neighbourhood.”

“I understand,” Avo said, smiling softly for a shining moment that was broken by her smile widening into a cocky baring of fangs. “I understand that I’m probably gonna need to buy a few of our ‘Introduce Your Partner To Pegging’ guides and read up on how to properly bring out your inner submissive dick lover.”

“Awfully descriptive for a normal burn,” Wolter fired back. “Had this on your mind for a while, huh?”

“As much as I’ve thought about why exactly you go on so many errand trips for your sister which is, not a lot, until now.”

The aardwolf tilted his head. “She does plenty for me. Gets me Snarlbucks and stuff.”

“A half sweet no foam salted caramel mocha macchiato in exchange for a butt-plug? Fair trade, I guess.”

“Hey, you have no idea how this shit works. Besides, Anna’s crazy. She could probably convince someone to murder someone.”

“I’ve gathered.”

“She, like, puts a spell on you.”

“I’m sure.”

“No! Look. Here’s what goes down: So, she wants something—“

“Naturally.”

“And I’m usually willing to do it, but sometimes I’m not, yeah? So we start the whole fuckin’ — I don’t know, like ritual or whatever. At first, it’s like — like we both have even ground. She wants something. I’m too lazy to give it to her. We’re…negotiating. Yeah. And we go for like two hours and even after that we still haven’t gotten anywhere, but that’s what she _does_. You’re in a stalemate, but not actually.” Wolter leaned in as he talked, a serious but crazy look on his face, like a conspiracy theorist about to dole out the ‘truth’ about some kind of plot by the government.

“Oh, god,” Avo looked around the shop, weirdly empty for a Friday. “Are you gonna keep going? I’m kind of at work, dick for brains.”

The aardwolf tilted his head. Again. Avo wondered why _she_ was the puppy.

“Okay,” he continued. “Where was I?”

“Wolt, you’re acting––“

“I have a point here, puppy! So: You’re at your stalemate. You—“

“Not me, babe. You.”

They both took pause at the word, and then let it go, Avo holding it in contempt for a little while longer than Wolter did.

“ _I,_ ” he emphasized. “Still think I’m fine, right? I’m not. Because Anna wants something, and that means I’m fucked. Because I’m not gonna last—“

“Heard that before.”

“And then I let up, and _she_ totally has this in the bag. We start negotiating again all over again but she has the upper hand now which means that I’m _double_ fucked. In the end, she’ll get what she wants because (don’t tell her I said this) I love her more than I don’t want to do whatever the fuck she wants me to do this time. Then I’ve lost, and it’s a lot to deal with so _please_ let me use your discount.”

A familiar numbness set into Avo’s body as she felt the speechlessness set in. “You know you don’t need to ask.”

It wasn’t a reminder. It was a statement of fact. He knew he didn’t need to ask, on account of the many times he had come by in the last few weeks, and saw her use her discount on him.

Wolter’s smile had widened steadily as she started to talk, and his teeth were all but completely exposed by the end of the jackal’s slowly building realization that he had intentionally wasted her time.

Angry paws took hold of the box and rung it up. The frowning canine that they belonged to soon was shoving it into a bag and pushing it into her packmate turned casual hookup turned object of utter frustration’s snickering face.

“It’s time for you to leave,” she said, tersely.

“Aw, puppy…”

“Bye.”

“We still on for later?”

Of course they were, was her immediate reaction. And she was gonna make him regret that, was her next. “You’re gonna pay for that.”

“Is that a yes?”

Avo gave him a level stare, cold desire in her eyes that were restrained by her inability to leave her work shift. “I’m gonna have you begging on your hands and knees when I’m done with you. Just fuckin' watch, shortstack.”

“Looking forward to it,” Wolt responded, voice wavering out of fear for what he’d done.

 

* * *

 

Nothing more, and nothing less. That’s all Avo wanted. Her life right now was great. Not perfect — no one’s life was perfect. It could be better, probably, but who was to say? All that she knew was that right now, she didn’t want, didn’t need anything else.

Need was a funny word, though. Need implied a bare minimum, and Avo didn’t have that. What she had was actually pretty good. Why would she ever need to reach for something better?

The question had meandered about her mind for a while now — if it could even be called a question. It was more of a vague, thoughtless ‘what if’ that crept into the back of her head and wouldn’t leave. She barely even knew what it was asking. It was a simple feeling, and that’s what she reminded herself. Nothing more, nothing less. Avo repeated the phrase over and over in her head until it barely sounded like words.

It was pretty sunny outside, save for a few clouds that could have added to the view if not for their awkward positions. Walking home was a breeze nonetheless. Friday always made everything faster and easier.

Strumming rumbled the outside walls of the apartment building, only getting louder and louder as Avo entered the premises. Seemed like Oz had someone over. She thought about finding out just who it was, but the inescapable rush of her beating heart compelled her to ask him later. She moved up the stairs, humming to the song coming through the walls stained with booze and chipped paint.

A scritchy, tired voice stopped her three steps into Wolter’s hallway, sounding similar to the aardwolf but with a feminine twist as it called. “If dead, deaf kittens could keep crying, well, I guess they’d just be normal deaf kittens. And they’d sound like angels compared to you.”

Avo turned and regarded Anneke’s height. She was still shorter than Marty’s cock, and she still smelled like strawberry soda left out in the sun and then jizzed into by a horse.

The dress was nice, though. Short and skimpy, but nice.

“I thought you had plans,” the jackal said.

“I do. I forgot my clutch. Also I found it funny how you ignored me in the lobby, and on your way up the stairs, and at the top of them. Excited to get your dick wet?”

For a few seconds (a few seconds too many), Avo found that she was at a loss for any comebacks. It seemed that the twins were having a lucky streak with that. Today it was like they had some kind of silence button that they could just flip out and apply to her. Or maybe it was something of her own fault. Maybe she was just falling off her game. Distracted, or something. She didn’t know.

“Come on,” Anneke commanded, walking past her.

They strolled down the hallway, right into the middle of the hall and into the room across from West 001.

When they entered the room, Wolter was asleep, an empty bag of some kind of flaky pastry sat on the corner of a pulled up chair beside him, along with a laptop playing some kind of skimpy music video. Anneke walked over and lifted the legs of the other aardwolf, swiping a smooth red clutch out from underneath.

“Have fun, or whatever,” she said, walking towards the door. “Don’t fuck on my bed.”

“Have fun at your orgy,” Avo jabbed. “Or whatever it is you do.”

“It’s a date, actually.”

A blink. “Oh. Don’t fuck him, then. Probably not the best thing to build a relationship on.”

“I’ll do what I want,” Anneke winked. “See you.”

The closing of the door woke Wolter up.

He stirred, pausing the music video on the computer and, eyes still closed, calling “Anna?”

“Nah,” Avo purred, “It’s just me.”

Her voice roused his attention, and he practically shot up and crashed his face into hers. Avo didn’t mind the momentary pain; welcomed it, even. Their breath became one, and as Wolter’s hands stroked her back she knew that she was lost to him.

 

* * *

 

The water burned, and the twins’ shower always felt smaller, though they all had the same size. When she got out, and all the semen and saliva and a tiny few drops of blood were completely gone, she borrowed one of Wolter's towels (she knew they were his because they all reeked of his cologne) and dried herself. She noticed just how soft the new bath mat was on her feet, taking note of its fluffy texture. She'd have to ask about it sometime.

Her reflection was covered. Fogged up by the mirror. She didn’t mind. She knew what she looked like. Didn’t need a reflection anyway. When her fur was fully dried she ventured into the hallway, wandering through the kitchen before grabbing a bag of chips and entering Wolter’s room, where she found the aardwolf nodding off as he waited for her with his chin resting in his hands.

Upon her arrival his nose twitched, and he groggily opened one of his eyes, which flitted from her face to her breasts to the bag of chips in her paws. He murmured something unintelligible before making some room for her on the queen sized mattress.

Avo sat on the edge of the bed, putting a single chip in her mouth and crunching on it as loud as possible. “What was that? Couldn’t hear you.”

The aardwolf blinked twice before yawning. “I said,” he drawled sleepily. “C’mere, puppy.”

“Nothing else? Nothing along the lines of ‘I’m really sorry, puppy, I bit you way too fuckin’ hard even though _I_ wasn’t the one who was supposed to be rough today’? Nothing like that? Because I swear you could have said something like that.”

Wolter only stuck his tongue out at her, looking so similar to his twin that Avo had to look away for a second.

“I guess you don’t need these chips then,” she said.

“Avo.”

“Yes?”

“Avoooooo.” Wolter gently mock howled, drawing out the last letter of her name, quickly being silenced by a chip and a shove as Avo crawled into bed beside him. His legs sought out hers, and soon they were tangled up in each other, feeling the warmth off of their bodies mingle as they cuddled. The soft crunch of potato chips filled the minutes following, and despite how ordinary it all was to her Avo begged Wolter not to ruin the moment because it was really quite perfect.

“That’s a lot better,” he sighed, after the chips were finished. “Sorry, by the way. That bird crashing against the window just spooked me. Don’t know why I should be apologizing, though, considering the fact that you were trying to aggressively fuck me into an apology for earlier.”

“Eh. You’re still gonna have to make it up to me. I take cash, credit cards, cheques, ideas for pranks, free food…” she trailed off.

“Fine, then. Dinner on Sunday?”

The blood in Avo’s body froze over. “I’ll uh — I’ll think about it.”

“Alright. How about some strudel for now?”

“Better.”

“Can you get it?”

“What? Of course not!”

“Come with me, then?”

“You go first. Microwave it for me.”

He gave her a suspicious look, but ultimately left after another kiss — the “smek” sound only making Avo blush a little bit, this time around. As the aardwolf disappeared from view, her expression shifted from comfortable to wide eyed, which would have been harmless on anyone but her. She didn’t frown. Frowning was one of her defaults. Neutrality meant that she wasn’t completely stress free, and that was a problem.

Dinner. Dinner was such a harmless thing. Why not? Free food. Except not. Because this was free food with someone she was sleeping with. On a regular basis. But it wasn’t even that.

She ran her paws over her head, dragging her palms over her ears roughly. It would be a complete understatement to say that she was having a rough time with this. It _wouldn’t_ be a complete understatement to say that she didn’t know what to do.

Once again she found herself begging Wolter for something. This time, though, she wasn’t sure what for. Direction? Guidance? Withdrawal of his proposal?

Maybe _that_ was the problem. Her mindset. It wasn’t a proposal. It was just dinner. Food. With her friend. She tasted the way that statement sounded. Food — Fine. With her — Okay. Friend, though? That definitely didn’t taste right. Not like all the other reasonable things she had ever said to herself. Those were like cherry lollipops, and this was like chewing tobacco.

 _Were_ they friends?

More?

She attempted to picture a domestic life with Wolter: coming over, chatting, having sex, cooking food—

“Avo?” Wolter yelled from the kitchen. “Stuff’s hot ’n ready.”

“I’ll be right there,” the jackal called back. “Lemme put a shirt on or something.”

The dresser opened with a flick of her paw, and like buried treasure sat a mixture of clothing that fit either her, the aardwolf, or both of them. A hoodie that had obviously been worn before caught her attention, and after throwing it on, she admired herself in the mirror by the door. Her smile was disgustingly radiant, and the whole ‘just woke up’ look suited her like a bespoke glove.

Soft music waltzed out of Wolter’s phone from the kitchen counter, almost queueing her entrance into the kitchen. Her feet were silent, veiled by the relaxed rhythm of the song as she snuck up on his swaying shoulders, still faced away from her as he took a nice, long drink from the OJ carton. A moment took root, growing slowly as she listened to the oddly comforting sounds of his greedy swallows, and then dying without a fuss when she wrapped her arms around him, taking hold of the carton just as he attempted to put it down.

His eyes widened, and he made a valiant effort to keep drinking before he forced Avo’s paw down and spat a mouthful of juice into the sink. “You’re — _ack_ — a bitch,” he coughed against her stifled laughter.

She made an innocent face. “Sorry,” she snickered halfway through the word. “I’m impulsive. Should probably see someone about that before I try and prank you again.”

“Pranks suck, babe,” he muttered, backing her up against the counter. The music was getting louder. “And so do you.”

“Do I, now?”

Searing hot paws touched hers, and only now she noticed that she was cold without his touch. They tugged downwards, gently, and she fell to her knees, obedient, head now level with his. Their eyes stared into each other, black into black.

“I think you do,” Wolter’s breath smelled like citrus. He leaned forward, close enough that when Avo spoke next her lips brushed against his.

“And what do I suck?”

“I know you know, pup. You don’t gotta be coy.”

Smiles grew, in tandem, and they bumped their bared teeth against each other before sharing a kiss too passionate to share with anyone else but themselves. Minutes — maybe an hour, passed behind them, but that was no matter. They only had each other. All that was or ever will be ceased to exist until they broke apart, panting.

“I love you.” Neither was sure who said it first.

“I love you too.”

Avo travelled downward, loving smile turning lascivious in lieu of the lewd acts she was about to enjoy forever and ever and—

And then she blinked, and found herself standing, slouched, in front of Wolter in the kitchen. He had an eyebrow raised, and two apple strudels sat steaming on a plate on the counter.

“Not that I mind,” he began. “But do you maybe wanna, like, put a shirt on or anything?”

She looked down, at her chest, completely bare and not covered by the hoodie that she threw on during the daydream. “Nah. Nope. Hey, something came up so I’m just gonna take my baked pastry to go, thanks. I’ll see you and your tiny dick later, etcetera.”

The strudel burned in her mouth, but she shoved it in anyway, half of it hanging out, and left the apartment to Wolter’s fading stutters of confusion. On her way to her room, she passed Remmy, whose eyes widened to the size of the pomp on his head at the sight of her. She wanted to wave. Or flip him off. Give him smug eyes. If there was an option to do any of those, she would have, but there wasn’t.

Thankfully, no one else seemed to be in the apartment, and home came to her in a flash. Her room felt like an oasis upon entering. Avo took delight in its familiarity, its comfort, like a morning routine unbroken for years at a time, but now she just felt a little sick. Her sheets weren’t as soft as she wanted them to be, and her pillow wasn’t as firm.

Sleep found her quick, refusing to let her leave its grasp until around three hours later, when she woke up sweaty and nervous and not rested at all.

 

* * *

 

There were sirens.

There were sirens and as she woke they faded, but the wailing refused to leave her. The bed felt unfamiliar. A landscape painting without clouds. There was just something missing, and it could have been anything, but all she knew was that if she found it, everything would be better. This feeling again…still without any trace of an origin. God, why couldn’t she just leave herself alone?

A run. Avo ran. This was known to many. She could run. In perfect form, actually. Mostly perfect, anyway. She could run. Not run away, but simply get everything she needed and _run_. The clock told her that it was 2 AM. She could run if she wanted. It wasn’t a weird time to. Her shoes were at the front and her clothes were somewhere around here…

Night air nipped playfully at the fur on her face. Avo always felt a certain understanding with the cold. Almost like they were kindred spirits. Kind of. The fact that one could get as comfortable with the cold as one could get with the heat (provided the effort and the time) had always perked her interest. She was pressed to smile as she ran. Not wide. Just a little bit.

She didn’t really have a usual route. Packer’s was her home when it came to most workouts, but whenever she ran she simply let her feet find their way through the city. Probably not the best thing to do, especially when she lived in her neighbourhood. She ran her tongue over her teeth, hearing Al’s voice in the back of her head, along with her parents. All three were warning her in the way that the old did the young: without hope, and without an inch of slack.

A scoff sent the bad thoughts away, dispersing like her hot breath in the chilly air. Somewhere in her mind was the sound of sirens.

It wasn’t like anyone had killed her yet, anyways. She wasn’t in danger.

Her heart pounded, in time with her footfalls as she sprinted down the concrete to an unknown destination. Moonlight lit the little that she couldn’t already see, but it didn’t help. As she slowed her stride, she realized that she did not know where she was.

Avo was lost. She didn’t have her phone. The smile had left her face.

Breathing from nearby. Heavy. Contemplative. She realized that it belonged to her.

Growling arose, building into what sounded like a sneeze, but she couldn’t be sure.

The jackal looked round, trying to spot escape routes and shortcuts to back home. She didn’t feel eyes on her, which was good. In all likelihood, she was just freaking out and there was some stranger being strange in this part of town that she had somehow never been in.

Curiosity prodded at her being — the kind that couldn’t be shaken off lest it bother her the whole way home. She searched for the source of the breathing. Maybe they could point her back to her apartment. Back to her friends and packmates and one aardwolf who’s status in her life she wasn’t sure about. The cold ground under her feet changed into grass as she wandered into the clearing.

A park. Damn. She had run far enough to be encountering wild parks? With kids toys and stuff just laying around for the taking? There was a sand pit with plastic construction vehicles, and a playground with the works (a slide, and monkey bars, and another slide that was longer than the first), and a swing set, upon which there was a lion on his phone.

Avo thought about leaving until she recognized the scent that was light and fading in the cold air. Her voice betrayed a shiver that she wasn’t feeling up until she called out. “Neil?”

The other mammal looked up, commanding eyes just barely peering at her from under a gray hood, and ceased to be a mysterious stranger. “Avo?”

“That’s me,” she said, relieved that there was a conscious, sentient predator in the brush and not the alternative. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Wandered. You?”

“Same.”

She hesitated for a moment, then prowled across the empty park to take a seat beside her friend. Creaking metal accompanied the placement of her weight on the black rubber swing, and until she realized that it was because the chains and bolts were rusty, she felt self-conscious. Both her and Neil were silent for a while. On occasion one or the other would take a deep inhale, and a long exhale. Their hot breath in the cold night air looked like smoke.

“Did you hear the sirens?” she asked, unsure if anyone else did.

“A little bit,” Neil replied. He ran a humongous paw through his mane, as luscious as any other lion’s. He seemed to remember something when the silence came back, and dug into his hoodie pocket like it was a foot deeper than it actually was, pulling out a lollipop that had yet to be unwrapped. A smirk graced his features as he offered it to the jackal.

She took it gratefully, tearing off the packaging without a second thought before putting it into her mouth. Grape. Not the best. “Where are we?”

The lion made a thoughtful expression. “Closer to Grass Street than Pack. We’re pretty far from home, aren’t we?”

Avo nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know. I started running, and I—“

“You just kept on doing it?” His tone told her that he had done the exact same.

“Yeah.”

Her taste buds savored the grapey flavor of the candy, despite it not being her favorite. Anything was good to her at that point, for she was hungry and thirsty, and the running and discovery of her friend had distracted her up until now.

Some water would be nice. She asked if Neil had any, but he shook his head no.

“I’ve been here for a while. Needed a place to cool down from the run and this seemed fitting enough,” he said. “Seen it before, actually. It’s a nice park. Better in the day, but I never really have the time to go. Seeing it like this is a little creepy if I’m being honest. Think I’m ready to head home. There’s water there and stuff. Wanna tag along?”

Avo took a last look at the empty park. It’d surely be better in the sun. “Alright.”

They talked about diets and food and the taco truck, walking. Neil’s fish supplier was upping her prices, the total fucking bitch that she was. He declined Avo’s offer to set her straight. As nice that would be, he didn’t want a crime committed in his name. He had other people to think about, after all.

Avo was confused at that, but ultimately accepted that she didn’t know better. The increased prices were affordable enough, anyway. A minor setback that neither of them would remember a month from now. It wasn’t like money was tight. There was always need for good food.

Twenty minutes away from the closest sign to Pack Street, and she had understood just how far she had sprinted from her problems.

Ten minutes away, and they had run out of things to talk about, so Avo decided to talk about herself.

“How good do you think my vagina is?”

“Uh…”

“Seriously. You think if we were banging on a regular basis, you’d be so addicted to sex with me that you would fall in love with me? No, right? Because that’s stupid. No one actually does that. That’s shit for bad TV and movies, and Hyena Gomez songs.”

Neil was looking at her now. “Did you land yourself in some guy drama?”

“No.”

His eyebrow raised.

“No,” she insisted. “That’s…the problem.”

“The problem is no drama? No guy?”

“I—I don’t know!” Her stride increased, noticeably faster than her companion’s. “That’s the thing though, isn’t it? It’s supposed to be like feeding a homeless kitten. You give them once slice of bread and soon enough they’re at your door. Yowling and scratching at the wood and whining until you give them what they want. But here—He’s—”

A tiny clack interrupted her thoughtless rant. The lollipop had fallen out of her mouth and shattered itself on the ground.

“They say that running clears your mind, but you’re obviously still messed up.” Neil remarked, voice tinged with amusement. He rested a wide paw on her shoulder. “I think you’re freaking out, Avo. I don’t care what for. Clearly it’s enough to scramble your brain a good amount, so just take a nap.”

“Typical lion answer,” she seethed.

“Things are always better after some sleep!” he sang back. “You’ll see. You just need to turn your mind off long enough to resist your survival instincts and realize that you have to jump off the cliff before you die. So to speak.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Of course you will.”

“Or maybe I won’t.”

“Then you’re gonna stay conflicted. Forever and ever, until you die.”

Avo sighed.

They parted ways a little before her apartment. When she got to the front door, it was packed. A steady crowd of predators gathered round the TV, watching some sort of B horror movie. She passed them without a second glance, gliding up the staircase until she reached her hall, and then grabbed a blanket from her room. She made her way up to the roof — empty, despite everything — and made herself comfortable. The moon was out, and the air was still cold, albeit more mild than when she first set out. She prayed, though maybe that wasn’t the right word. She asked something out there to help out with her mess, and fell asleep looking at the lights turn on from inside the buildings across the street. When her eyes were half lidded, they looked like stars.

 

* * *

 

Wolter was sitting by her when she woke, tapping madly at his phone. Seemed like he was playing some sort of game, but when she craned her neck to look, he was simply swiping through the pages of apps, scrolling by so fast that when his thumb tapped the screen next he couldn’t possibly have an idea of what he was opening. He would stay on the app for less than thirty seconds before it bored him and he closed it, repeating his little swiping ritual over and over until he finally found something that he seemed to like.

Nearly fifteen minutes of some kind of bug dating sim went by before his ear twitched. Without looking, he asked “How was your nap?”

“Alright,” Avo replied. She twisted her torso as far as she could to the right, hearing audible pops in her back.

“Comfortable?”

“Mmm.”

“Saw you come in from your spirit quest or whatever. You’re such a spaz,” Wolter teased, only giggling louder when her fist made light contact with his arm. “I’m telling the truth! One mention of making our little set-up here a little better and you freak out. Food’s nothing to be afraid of, puppy. Neither is…” he trailed off, before visibly steeling himself for something. “Well, neither is enjoying time with me that isn’t straight fucking.”

Whether or not his feelings were hurt was ambiguous. Stupid to ponder on. That fact only made the guilt sting more. Avo dragged herself closer to him, and lowered her snout to his shoulder. Her mouth opened, and bit down lightly against him.

“Ow,” he remarked, quiet but not serious. Her grip on his loosened a little, tightened again, and she let him go after that.

“Don’t be a pussy,” she said. “This wasn’t about you.”

“Wasn’t it?”

“Not completely?”

His gaze went up to the sky, starry and bright. He smiled. “Fair enough.”

Avo snuggled into her blanket, feeling its softness insulate her body heat. “Look, I just — geez, you’re gonna make me say it? This whole ‘set up’ kinda works for me. Doesn’t it work for you? We’re in front of a waterfall. Can’t we just admire the view and not, like, jump off without a raft?”

“Seriously, puppy,” One of Wolter’s fingers traced aimless lines across the back of her paw. She looked at him, expecting another pair of eyes to be looking into hers, but he was still looking up at space. “It was just an honest dinner invitation. Burgas or something.”

“You can’t tell me that it wasn’t any different from the times you’ve gone out with the sheep or with Oz, though. _We’re_ different,” she attempted to voice her paranoia with a neutral tone, but that failed, and what she was left with was a tuneless chirp. “Special, even.”

“If you say so.”

“Don’t pull that coy shit, Wolt. I’m not the crazy friend with benefits here.”

“If you say so,” he repeated once more, with gusto. “Wanna hear me explain how the world works again? I’ll have a point other than to waste your time, this time.”

“No, but I feel like you’re just gonna—“

“I think,” the aardwolf said, wheeze-laughing for a split second after his interruption. “I think that we might be the only two people on the block who are _exactly_ what we look and act like.”

She raised an eyebrow. “So you’re a greasy, dumb slut and I’m the best?”

“Aw, can’t we both be the best?”

“World’s not big enough,” the jackal chided.

A paw grasped at hers with a firm, even grip. Wolter was looking at her now. His eyes were black like hers, but in the right light (such as the one they were currently in) they seemed to sparkle, as if they’d taken the stars from the sky he was so intently staring at.

She suddenly recalled what his face looked like at the moment of orgasm, in the afterglow, at Pandora’s Box whenever he teased her from inside the counter, and she blushed.

“Let’s skip the whole ‘confession in the rain’ thing,” his lips seemed to move in slow motion and his voice resonated from all around her. “Okay? That’s not our style.”

Avo nodded, and he turned away, back to the sky. The moment felt like it was missing something.

“See that?” Wolter asked her, after a moment. He pointed at a particularly bright dot in the sky, outshining everything around its little spot in the inky darkness.

“What? The helicopter?”

He shook his head, almost laughing. “That’s Saturn.”

“Fuck off.”

“No like, actually. That’s Saturn. Look it up.”

“Shit. Okay. I might believe you.”

“Right?”

The jackal glared at the sky, trying to dim the planet with nothing but her eyes. “I don’t like that I can see it and it’s so far away.”

“Well,” Wolt offered, squeezing her paw, reminding her that they were still holding each other. “We _do_ have spaceships now.”

“None that’ll take me to fucking Saturn.”

“I don’t know. Maybe one day. Maybe soon. Technology and stuff’s always changing—“

Avo reached over from behind and closed his mouth with a paw. She had crept up on him as he talked, prowling from behind as his shoulders swayed slightly with his speech. The only reason he was allowed to go on until now was because she found his voice comforting. It reminded her of the simple things: microwaved food, trading insults, and negotiating for discounts. Simple was exactly what she needed right now.

She pulled him backwards and kissed him on the lips, as simply as she could.

“Is that a ‘yes’ to dinner, then?” he asked after they had separated, breathily and excited.

“I don’t want fast food.”

“We’ll find somewhere better. Somewhere nice, but affordable. And we'll bang in the parking lot, or the bathrooms. It'll be great, I promise.”

A nod, small at first, but growing more vigorous as she continued to do so. “Okay. I can do that. Yeah.”


	3. It ended,

The radio mostly played pop music. Classic rock, sometimes. Wolter had bought it ten years ago, or something like that, with money he had saved up for months. It was old and the sound was kind of shit compared to what his phone could do, but once upon a time (when it was still new) there was a week long snowstorm and a blackout. None of the electricity worked. All devices ran out of power by the end of the first day, except for the radio, and he spent entire days huddled beside it with Anna.

They listened to music and DJ’s that were too energetic for their own good, finding that with the radio and with each other, they could never be bored in the dark. Anna probably didn’t remember—he didn’t expect her to, but that was why he never got rid of it. Sometimes when she was out and he was lonely, he turned it on and let it play, imagining he was a kid again.

Nowadays he barely gave the radio a second glance.

Mostly it was because he found that now when he was feeling alone he had something— _someone_ else to keep him company. Maybe she didn’t exactly make him feel like a _kid_ but when he thought of her, but he definitely felt younger than he actually was. She made his tail thrash in approval and his lips turn eternally upward. Avo made him happy, and as dangerous as that could turn out to be, Wolter was grateful. It felt great.

He felt great.

Another month passed by since their whole _dramatic confession_ up on the rooftop, along with four or five dates consisting of food, something else, and really sweet sex. They were at that halfway point between S.O and ‘seeing each other’, but If Wolter wanted to toot his own horn a little, he’d say that they were pretty damn good together. Like…peanut butter, and instant ramen.

It was then that he noticed he was standing up, caught between the couch where he had fallen asleep for the day and the hall that lead to the bathroom. The time was somewhere around 8 PM, according to the clock. A little early compared to his usual waking times. Maybe he had something to do today. Did he have something to do today?

Vibrations exploded on top of his thigh, and in his desperate struggle to contain them he nearly dropped his phone as he pulled it out of his pocket, yelling out in distress as is sailed to the floor before managing to catch it by the corner, right before the moment of impact. His heart raced, and he revelled in the small victory before noticing his sister watching him from around the corner.

“Are you having a stroke or something?” she giggled, fighting to keep a grin down.

“I don’t have anything I need to get done today, do I?” Wolter asked her.

Anneke’s face switched from amused to thoughtful in an instant. She put a paw to her chin, leaning against the wall as she tried to remember any plans he might have mentioned. “Not that I can remember. Why? What’s up?”

The other aardwolf shrugged. “I think I’m gonna drop by Avo’s.”

“Tell her she can come and steal some of our food if she needs it.”

“She already does, but I’ll remind her anyway.”

They nodded at each other as Wolter left the apartment, walking out into an empty hall. He couldn’t smell Remmy, or Marty, or Charlie nowadays. It was like they moved out or died, or something. It creeped him out.

He travelled down the hall and up the stairs, into another empty hall. A part of him was disappointed, but then again, what did he expect? The whole building had practically turned into a ghost town overnight, and whenever he _did_ see any of his packmates in the halls, it was more on the surreal side than ordinary.

All of Pack Street was sad, despite all the smiles that he saw when more than one of them managed to congregate in the lobby. Those were all brave faces. Fake. Not in the deceitful way, but simply unreal.

Hard times had fallen for preds. Everyone knew that. Some, though, had it a little harder than others.

Wolter set his eyes on Avo’s apartment, sitting pretty in the middle of the hall directly above his. He wondered about going back down and stealing a bagel or two to toast before remembering that she didn’t like her carbs for breakfast. Something about spiking insulin, he didn’t know. When he reached the front he pulled out his key (Betty had it made the day before the news came about Dora, and Avo tried to spring it on him all nonchalant, blushing all the while) and entered what had become his second favorite place of rest.

He stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind him, careful not to disturb the creature loudly snoring away within the bedroom on the deeper side of the hall. After he skulked around the kitchen and examined the contents of the fridge, he walked in and admired the girl he found snoozing in the bed. Her bed. Their bed, really.

She was wearing an old band tee with the sleeves clawed off, an arm resting on her forehead and an arm stretched out to her side. A ghost of a smile graced her mouth, as smug and cocky as one could get while still being asleep. Her covers draped over the lower part of her body but Wolter didn’t have to guess to know that she was sleeping commando. The dimming light of the sunset should have softened her features, but her dark fur against the white sheets only sharpened her pointy form. A very inviting pointy form, if Wolter had any right to say.

The aardwolf wasted no time. His t-shirt and pants were shed and piled up by the door, and soon he was crawling into bed with her, laying his head beside hers and purring as her arm wrapped around him reflexively. He thought better about kissing her. That would make her wake up, and then they’d probably bang.He was a little tired for that, so he settled for a quick lap at her cheek before closing his eyes.

“Missed me, pups?” he whispered. “You better say so, because if you did, I could say that I missed you back.”

No answer came to him. Only more snoring. But that was okay. He wasn’t expecting anything, anyway.

Still, something would have been nice.

He drifted right off to sleep, joining the jackal beside him.

* * *

 

Avo woke up, and the bed smelled like banana flavored lube. Plus that smoky smell that happened when the days were really hot and the streets were paved with fresh tar. Wolter must have come by. She sat up, shaking her left arm, which was abnormally tingly. It must have fallen asleep while the aardwolf was using it as a neck pillow. The stupid idiot. Didn’t he know that if he slept on it too long she would lose all blood flow and then she’d have to get it cut off?

God, what time was it?

Food was cooking. She sniffed the air, ears perked. Breakfast time, that’s what time it was. Screw whatever the clock was saying. Wasn’t like she had a job to be late to anyway.

Soft sizzling lead her out of her bedroom and into the kitchen, where Wolter had a salmon filet cooking and was too busy glaring at its changing color to notice her entrance. It seemed that she came at the perfect time as well, as he only took ten more seconds with the food before taking it off the pan and putting it on a plate to rest. Panting softly, he stared at his masterpiece with an even mixture of pride, hate, and slight disgust.

“Are you trying to propose?” interrupted Avo as she waltzed into the kitchen. “Because this is definitely a good start, though I’d rather not sign my life away to sadness and alcoholism just yet. I _know_ I’ve reeked of both lately but I’m not sure if I’m ready for that kind of commitment.”

Smek. The sound almost made her giggle, but Wolter tasted like gato-rade and she knew that he didn’t have any at home. She leaned into him, squinting like her eyesight was as shitty as his. “What color did you take?”

“I didn’t touch the blue ones, so you can stop with the crazy glare. I drank the last red. And munched on the rest of your cicada bites while I was figuring out what to cook. ”

“Eh, cicadas suck anyway.”

They settled down on the couch, and Avo ate her first meal of the day to the sounds of some peppy rhythm game that Wolt tapped at on his phone. The salmon was cooked perfectly, somehow. He didn’t usually make her fish — too grossed out by it, she guessed — but this was astounding compared to his last few attempts. And he was treating it like it were any other meal. Fuck, the small hints of lemon that arose from its tender texture made her want to howl. Right this moment it may have been the best plate of food she’d ever eaten, and — where did it go?

“Yeaaaah,” Wolter placed a hand on her shoulder and took a soft tone, drawl getting sleepy and gentle. “This was all the food left in the fridge that wasn’t the microwaveable stuff, and I know you’d like that stuff only for dinner, so I had to make do.”

 _Oh_. Avo felt like slapping herself in the face. That was just _great_.

“This,” he started, excited all of a sudden “This is great, though, because that means we have something to do now!”

She twitched her ears visibly, letting him know that she was listening.

“It means we can go up to the CD and buy a huge breakfast?” The suggestion may as well have been a foolproof get-rich-quick scheme from the way that he leaned back and smiled, waiting for eager praise or some sort of assortment of words.

“Hmm…” Avo stretched, cracking her neck a little. “Can we go a little later?”

Something in her voice got Wolter’s smile to perk up, somehow. She wasn’t aware that a smile could look so much more like a smile in just a few seconds, but there he was. Proving her wrong like nobody’s business. He leaned forward, knowing the answer to the question he was about to ask. “Do you have something else in mind?”

“I mean, I could make some kind of joke about you needing an appetizer, but I’m not the worst.”

“That could be debated.”

“Come here and debate, then.”

He did. When he was in arms reach she pulled him into her lap, paws reaching up into his shirt and stroking his back as she raked her teeth across his shoulder. Pleasing Wolter was similar to petting a kitten, only instead of gentle strokes she clawed him or bit him or licked him in exchange for purrs. His shirt came off. She clawed roughly at his sides, hard not but enough to actually cut. “Thanks for responding to my text, by the way.”

“What?” Wolter asked. “What — oh. Oh! Yes. The text that I read. Telling me to come over, because I can make great fish even though I can’t seem to cook anything else. And also because I know you so well and check my phone when it vibrates. Yeah.”

She rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe I’m helping you sustain yourself.”

“No you’re not.”

Their mutual affectations stopped abruptly, and they dropped their paws to their sides. Their eyes met, glints of steel underneath their cheery gazes.

“Wolt.”

“Don’t be a dick about this.”

“ _You’re_ the one being a dick, dick,” she sneered, feeling the muscles in her back tense up. “I’m not bankrupt. I have savings. What — you’re just gonna buy me everything I fuckin’ want now with _the boat load_ of cash you have?”

The aardwolf’s expression fell. He put his paws on Avo’s thighs, hesitating before touching them like she was a bitey pet spider. “You’re right, but I wanna pay. It’s my turn, anyway.”

Avo blew a raspberry at him. “Should have said that in the first place. Come here.”

Wolter leaned in, excepting a kiss, but she simply wrapped his arms around him instead. The bare fur on her neck and her chest was almost scalding. She took a second to fumble with his belt before letting unzipping his jeans and letting them fall to the floor. “Sorry.”

“Same,” he affirmed. “We shouldn’t be doing this. Stuff’s already messed up.”

“Sounds great,” Avo drew back and smirked. “Now stop with the words. You have to distract me from the fact that my life is falling apart.”

 

* * *

 

After the deed was done, they took a nice post coital shower and took the empty express line down to the Canal District, still smelling like Avo’s shampoo. The both of them nearly fell asleep in the back, huddled up against each other as the stone gradually turned to dewey grass through the windows. Twenty minutes of nodding off passed before either could get any real rest, and as the driver announced their stop Avo took it upon herself to shake Wolter awake before helping his wobbly body off of the bus.

They found themselves in the middle of nowhere, which — after a nice wake up slap gifted from jackal to aardwolf — happened to be a short walk away from a diner peeking out of the leafy overgrowth.

After they had taken their cushiony red leather seats, they began to flip through the menus, and when that got too boring Wolter decided to take the time to make Avo a proposition.

“No,” she said, immediately after she heard what he was offering. “I’m not getting arrested with you.”

“No one would find us!” Wolter argued, a smile on his face.

“Thats…” Avo _still_ had no idea what she wanted to get. “That’s not the point!”

“What is, then?”

“Public sex _here_ would be gross, dirty, and would probably result in one or both of us getting some kind of disease that we won’t be able to hide from the others.”

Wolter seemed to consider her points, but then his gaze drifted and Avo was left hanging for much too long to be acceptable. Before she had the opportunity to say anything, though, he suddenly sprang back to life. “Oh. Oh, right! I don’t know. Just, like, do this for me?”

“No,” she replied. Once again, she awaited a reply that didn’t come. This time she leaned in, barging into the aardwolf’s wandering line of sight. “Dude, you okay?”

“Yeah,” he shook his head. “Sorry. I just…”

His gaze wandered yet again, and only now Avo noticed that it wasn’t to her lips, eyes or chest but to something behind her. She turned, instantly wishing that she hadn’t when she saw the portrait, the red and blue, and the headline. At least she knew why Wolter had managed to keep his eyes off her for so long.

Another attack. Another one turned.

This one was a pretty little leopard.

“Know what you want?” A waitress asked, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Avo blinked. The other patrons of the diner suddenly registered in her mind. All preds. That’s why no one was freaking out. Externally freaking out.

“I’ll have whatever he’s having,” she pointed at Wolt, deciding to not decide.

Her companion rattled off a nice amount of food: bug hash, pancakes, bug bacon, a few milkshakes. When the waitress left he brought his stare back to the world around him, levelling his dark eyes at Avo. “Sorry. Again. I think I’m saying that a lot, today.”

She reached out and grabbed his paw. An uncommon gesture. “It’s alright. Let's just talk about literally anything else.”

His paw squeezed hers, and she smiled, hopeful that it would comfort him and take both of their minds off of the very uncomfortable subject that she didn’t feel like talking about right now so _please_ god just smile.

He smirked, and she exhaled softly in relief.

“Where are we going after this?” she asked, trying to sound like she didn’t already have a clue.

Unfortunately, Wolter knew that tone of voice. He shovelled some food into his mouth, responding as he ate. “Dunno, but I think you have an idea. A really clear idea that you haven’t been saying up until now, and are pretending to not have.”

She tilted her head, a coy smirk on her face. “I haven’t been to the Canal District in a while — The actual Canal District. Not here. The place with the canals, boats and a weird amount of spiders. There’s some stuff nearby that we can check out, if you wanna come with.”

“I thought this was a date? Of course I’m coming with.”

The word was still a little strange to hear out loud. She was on a date with Wolter. If only the version of her from a few months ago could see her now. She’d probably have an aneurysm. “Great! Though I only really need you around to pay for the food. What you do after that doesn’t matter to me.”

Wolter glanced down. “Speaking of the food, we should probably eat it before leaving.”

The pancakes were all gone, but Avo didn’t want those anyway. The hash, however, was about a third eaten and the bacon was basically untouched. She blushed. “Sure.”

So she scarfed the food down, and whatever was playing on the TV was put somewhere else. Somewhere that wasn’t with her and Wolter, hidden away so that if someone asked her about what the news was saying a few minutes ago, she’d be hard pressed to say.

 

* * *

 

With her belly full and her mind ready to do something that wasn’t lying in bed, Avo took Wolter to the Canal District’s primo avenue for a whole bunch of weird shit.

The nearest river was a short ways walk from the diner, past a few rickety bridges (on which she half expected to fall through) and confusing turns (made disorienting from all the identical trees). From there they payed off a nice, silent jaguar in a boat to take them the rest of the way, and before Wolter could ask ‘are we there yet?’ they sailed under a bridge and entered the Glass Diamond.

It was a trio of small islands, joined together by canals and stone bridges and walkways, all covered with vines. It was known for being a combination of red light district and creepy occultist colony, which meant that Avo was sent there on deliveries and pickups from time to time.

Wolter, though, didn’t usually enter the ivied parts of Zootopia. The amazed look on his face told her so.

Different stands and outlets selling a plethora of things stood side by side on the floating islands. Glasswares, baked goods, lucky charms, and the like were all on display for the many mammals buzzing about as their boat passed the streets and bridges. It looked almost foreign, which was perfect because it was as far from Pack Street as one could get by travelling twenty minutes.

As they sailed in further, the mammals became less abundant, and when they passed a certain bridge marked with red ribbons the things that the stores were selling became a bit more oriented to Avo’s usual dealings.

“So,” she spoke up, nudging him with an elbow. “What do you think?”

“I think we gotta hit up some of those adult shops.”

“What else would we be doing?”

“Sharing ice cream, taking pictures, kissing underneath the moonlight,” he replied, turning to look at her. “Things that normal mammals do when they’re on dates.”

“Sounds lame.”

“Yeah, pretty much. Except for the ice cream. Let's get some sleeves and fuck in an alley.”

“We’re not fucking in an alley, and I have something better than sleeves. Ice cream sounds good, though. I know a good place for that.”

They reared up on a nearby stop, and got up onto the dock, bordered with railings to help clumsier mammals along without slipping on the residual wetness. An orderly line of shops surrounded them, as they were before, but these ones were devoid of banners or even displays. A little creepy, but Avo had gotten used to it by now. She took a moment to watch her companion’s eyes as he surveyed his surroundings before walking up the stairs and further down the street, away from the direction from which they came.

“Where are we…oh, you’re gone,” Wolter’s voice faded slightly behind her and then got louder as he caught up with her stride. “All those sweet shops! Back there!”

“Tourist traps,” she explained. “The establishments here are the good stuff.”

She counted the stores as they strolled, explaining all the while that as long as there were those tiny red christmas lights above the shops, there was a good chance that they weren’t exactly rated PG. When she got to the ninth shop they were in front of a classy little thing, painted a glossy white with a purple curtain veiling the display window.

Avo turned back, smirking. “I think you’re gonna like this place.”

Her paw twisted the nob and pushed, and she stepped into…she couldn’t pronounce the name. Purple silk and satin draped the walls and the furniture. Booths were placed all around. In the middle was a giant cocktail bar, cyan light glowing underneath the glass.

“You know that nudist place?” she asked, not turning to see Wolter, looking around for someone. “In Savannah Central?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled, the tone of his voice painting her a vivid picture of his face. He was excited. His eyes had lit up, but he was too excited to smile. His ears were perked and his hair was off to the side from the slight tilt of his head. “What about it?”

“The guy who owns that place, owns this speakeasy. Had to come here for work a few times,” Avo explained. “Get us a seat. I’ll find you after I see if the owner’s in.”

As his footsteps became more and more muffled by the chatter of the crowd, she took a seat at the bar.

“Was that your boyfriend?” a paw tapped her on the back.

Directly behind the jackal was a tiger. Peppy and bright. A nice black dress morphed to her curves, and a platter of assorted drinks was being balanced in her paw. The smile on her face made her look like someone. Another tiger that, once upon a time, owned a shop on Pack Street.

Stress threatened to spill into Avo’s brain, but she forced it back into the back of her mind. She put on her customer service smile. “Hi, Jasmine. Is your boss around?

“Nope. Is yours?”

She glared at the tiger, and left.

Wolt had found a table near the back of the lounge, and was voraciously reading the menu when she arrived to.

“They have booze. And ice cream. And both. And _termites_. So much termite-centric food.”

“Having fun?” Avo chirped, scooting in close to him. “Actually, don’t answer that. I know you are.”

His head flopped lazily against her arm. PDA wasn’t a thing for them. Not usually. It wasn’t because Avo always tensed up, no. No. She wouldn’t get weird like that. It was because of something else. And that something else was the reason for Wolter’s giggling before his response. “It’s too bad I’m still full from breakfast, otherwise I’d be getting at those termite pizzas.”

“Would you settle for a daiquiri or two?”

“It’s only nine-thirty!”

“Alright, we’ll get a milkshake.”

Wolter purred approvingly.

“A boozy milkshake.”

He thought about it, taking a few long seconds to hum annoyingly. “Okay. Relationships are compromising, after all.”

“That’s not…” she blinked. “I mean, I guess.”

“Ready to take your order?” a raspy voice rasped from out of nowhere, making both their heads snap to the side so fast that cracks were audible on both ends.

Avo rubbed her neck, glaring at the tiger. Cats never failed to be stealthy when they wanted to. You could be sitting there, comfortable and thinking that everything was going right, and then suddenly out of nowhere: stripes in your face that make you nearly wet yourself. She wondered if her boss was so silent when —

“Vodka milkshake. Chocolate,” Wolter answered. He turned to her after the waitress had left earshot, eyeing them as she slinked away. “What was that?”

“I know her. She’s a giant bitch.”

“No, it was more than that. You sure you’re—“

Avo looked away. “I am.”

The slight pressure against her arm subsided, and the heat left by the aardwolf’s head began to fade. An unsettling quiet settled over the both of them as the sound of their heartbeats overtook the chatter of the other patrons. At this point normal mammals would have either left or pulled out their phones, but they did neither.

 

* * *

 

Something broke in the end, and maybe it was the milkshake finally arriving but they were talking again in little to no time. Granted it was about the usual stuff (the fact that most of the sports leagues stopped playing is bullshit, but they were all preds so what can you do?), but it was like the tension was never even there.

Why did Avo feel even an ounce of worry in the first place?

She sipped through her straw, let the chocolate wash over her tongue, and was quickly reminded that there was alcohol in the mix as well. She placed a paw over her mouth and swallowed fast. When she became such a lightweight, she didn’t know, but she’d have to fix that sometime. Hell, she probably had the best opportunity to, now that she was out of a job and all.

“You know that cheetahs have miscarriages?” Wolter mentioned, “It’s lower now, but something like twenty percent used to spaz out in the first trimester and lose the kittens.”

“What?” Avo asked, looking at the calm aardwolf beside her. “That can’t possibly be true, but what?”

“They get like, super freaked out all the time. Start eating a bunch of food and shit. It’s why they started getting fat and giving diabetes to their kids.”

“I thought that was because of fast food becoming a popular thing.”

“In like the sixties,” he lectured calmly, as if he was quoting a TV news block word for word. “They were losing kids so fast and so much that they stopped even talking about it. If one of them had a bun in the oven, you’d hardly know about it. You could only tell if you smelled it on them, but even then it’s like rude to talk about it, so cheetahs and anyone knowing them just stopped mentioning when they were pregnant. It became this whole thing where they didn’t talk about it, and then you’d come into the office the next day and they’d be completely calm like ‘Oh yeah I just had a miscarriage the other day, wanna get donuts after work?’. Shit was insane. Now it’s a big deal because healthcare isn’t too shitty if you’re not dirt poor and cheetahs just chilled out, I guess. But…”

He gestured at her with his paws, like he had finished an important lecture and was giving her a pop quiz.

Avo raised an eyebrow. “What? Did that have anything to do with me, like, at all? Were you just speaking words with no purpose? I feel like Lassie except the bear talking to her didn’t know she was mute, and he was trying to get her to speak the whole time she was warning him about the kid in the well.”

Over time, the bar had become busier. More and more mammals (preds, mostly, Avo noticed) poured in through the front door and took seats.

Wolter’s mouth formed a hard line. He exhaled sharply. “I’m saying that sometimes, something bad happens and you wanna treat it like it’s normal, but that’s not good. You gotta open up.”

“To who?” she snarled. “ _You?_ ”

Her harshness seemed to surprise him. It surprised her as well. Seemed like she was forgetting just who she was. What this was.

“I-I don’t––“

“Look,” she began again, taking a calm tone. “We don’t need to talk about anything. My boss turned into a fuckin’ zombie and probably hurt people and she’s sitting in a hospital right now waiting for a cure that probably won’t come for like, six months. We can’t do anything about that. You can’t. Help me. Don’t make me feel bad if I don’t want to.”

Slowly Wolt’s facial expression started to mirror hers. They frowned at each other, milkshake melting between them.

“Please tell me why I’m wasting my time, then.”

“What?” Avo tilted her head. Where was this coming from?

“We have a thing going, and it’s nice. It’s great. But we’ve known each other for a while now so it’s not like we just met. Charlie _stinks_ of heat. You know that?” he almost whimpered, taking on a desperate tone of speech. “But now when I look at her I just wanna say hi or ask her how her day’s going. No flirting. That’s…that spot’s taken up.”

“ _And?_ ”

“And what? What else do you want from me before you make this worthwhile?”

Oh my god. She tried to laugh, and did, but none of the usual joy was in it. “Are you serious?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t mean to say it like that—“

Mammals were starting to stare.

“What, you think I’m one of those drunk _sluts_ with daddy issues that you’ve bedded in the past? Oh, thanks! You managed to be monogamous for an _entire month_. You want a marriage proposal? Want me to move in? We can listen to your sister fuck the entire block in your room together!”

A silence fell over them. There was a tiny crowd, now. Not actually around them, no, but looking. Watching.

“Look who’s back in character,” Wolter murmured. “I guess I was just being an idiot.”

“Poor Wolter. You wanted something more?”

“I thought we agreed on that,” His frown subsided into a completely mild expression. There was a numbness to him that felt dangerous. “I don’t know.”

“Well, it’s not happening. You can open up your black book again if you want. God, did you _fall for me?_ ”

The aardwolf’s eyes widened for a single, terrifying moment, and shrunk into a glare. She watched him as he slid out of the booth.

Just before he left he turned back, anger in his eyes that she had never seen before. “Who knew you were such a bitch?”

“Everyone,” she replied musically, waving him off.

And just like that, he was gone, and she was alone. Free from distraction. Minutes passed, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the corner from which he disappeared into. No one was watching now. Eventually, Avo smiled to herself, and took a sip of her milkshake.

She promptly spat it out. It was mostly booze and chocolate syrup, now.

"Great."


	4. It was just a thing that happened

Evening-time at Pack Street usually meant a full lobby, a loud TV playing stupid shows or a game (usually ball), and lots of company. Recently, it was the reverse, but things were starting to come back around. The news was still grim (no one wanted to leave home), but everyone had been coming out of their rooms recently, and if she smelled the right mammals congregating in the lobby it was a sure bet that she would come down and join them. She would have been bored in her apartment. All alone. No one to talk to. Very bored. Especially since she had no other plans and wasn’t expecting any visitors. She would be bored.

Bored.

Not lonely.

She wasn’t lonely.

Here and now, though, she had everyone she needed. Marty (well, maybe not Marty), Oz, Al, Betty was outside hacking a dart, and Charlie was there too. Nobody else could have compared. Maybe Soft Serve could be added. Their little stray sheep actually made for good company sometimes. When he wasn’t being an asshole. She even kind of missed him. The halls were devoid of any albino dust bunnies lately.

“Avo?” someone said.

She refocused her eyes on the vixen sat beside her, who was intruding slightly on her side of the couch but that honestly wasn’t too important. “What?”

“I was asking about your opinion on strawberries. We have an excess at home. Sharing would be preferred, but my offer isn’t mandatory.”

“They’re okay,” she muttered, wondering about the odd stains on the fox’s sweater. “No, more than okay. Eight out of ten. Pretty good fruits. I’ll take some off your hands if you want them gone. I mean, I’d rather have cherries, but strawberries aren’t something you’re gonna find me complaining about.”

“Cherries.”

“Yes?”

Charlie’s stoic face and squinted eyes seemed to become even more unreadable. “Interesting.”

“What the fuck, do you not like cherries?”

A second stood still, and then the vixen made her reply. “They’re okay. No more than okay.”

Avo arched an eyebrow. “Really.”

“The process is unsatisfying,” Charlie explained. “Too much work for a few seconds of flavor.”

“But those few seconds are worth it!”

“Opinions.”’

“Look, you just gotta be eased into it. Like with kinky sex. Cherries are great in flavor form — lollipops, obviously, and slushies — but if you learn to not mind the pit too much, the fruit is great. Man, me and W––“ she stopped, dragging a nail across the arm of the couch. “Well, I guess—“

“Hey,” Ozzy called out suddenly. “Who ordered mutton?”

Hoofsteps. Click clack. An eyeful of cotton entered Avo’s peripherals, and she turned towards the door. There he was! The one and only Wannabite himself. His eyebrows were a little furrowed but she could never really tell if that was because they were so heavy or because he was upset. She opted to believe the former. The ram looked at her as he passed, Bug Burga bag in hand, and she gave him an easy smile in return as her mind whirled around for something snarky to say.

She was worried that she missed her window for a second, but Ozzy stepped in the sheep’s path.

“What’s in the bag?” he asked, grinning. “Getting your daily protein, wannabite?”

“I’m not a wannabite.”

“Hey, arright, arright,” Ozzy chuckled, figuratively and literally backing off of the denial flavored jelly-filled donut. “I’m just messing with you, Remmy.”

The sheep nodded back, giving him a tired smile in recompense. “It’s been a long day. You guys have a good one.”

As he walked up the stairs to his hall, Avo’s fur bristled. Shit. She was supposed to be thinking of a _sweet, sweet zinger_ and all she did was watch the interaction. Alright, girl, she thought to herself. What have you got? You’ve used up all the white fabric jokes. All the cloud ones, too. What else—

“Hey Remmy!” Marty called out.

“Me and my sister are having a barbecue this weekend. She said you’re invited.”

Tension. Build up. This had better be good. No reused material or anything.

“Really?” Remmy replied, still walking.

“Yeah, she didn’t know where else to get lambchops!”

Avo sighed, looking despondent and gearing up for her own little jab until Remmy turned around.

“Hey, if your sister wants meat,” he paused, straightening his shirt out. “I’ll give her all she can handle.”

The sound of the stunned silence to follow was a sweet, sweet thing, and she thought it would last forever until Ozzy  _exploded_ in laughter. Her own delight was hard to mask as she leaned in, snickering wholeheartedly as poor little Marty just wilted like a rose in the desert. He attempted some kind of comeback, but Avo couldn’t hear it over herself.

A few more seconds went by, and though her own laughter had died down, Ozzy’s was only beginning to ramp up.

“Cripes, Ozzy, shut the fuck up. It wasn’t that funny.”

“Someone found their wooly little _balls_ today,” Al said, clearly impressed.

“Guess they were in Marty’s sister’s mouth,” Avo finally chimed in, watching as Remmy’s ascent to his room was played off by a hyena guffawing like he was on laughing gas. When the fresh meat was out of view, she turned to Marty. “He’s really coming into his own, isn’t he?”

“Cumming into your mouth, maybe, if you keep suckin’ his dick like that,” he snapped testily.

She flipped him off, blew a raspberry at him, and went for her phone. It was really too bad that the twins of all mammals weren’t there. She had to tell—

Actually, no one had to know. Save Marty the embarrassment after that _amazing_ burn.

“Everyone. Come to the TV right now.” Charlie called, halting any impending conversation with the tone of her voice.

“What—“ Ozzy started, but stopped talking. There was a news report.

“Betty,” Al called, as they all gathered around the busted old television. The black wolf sauntered in with sass that was immediately cowed by the content on the screen.

“Turn it up, Charlie,” someone said, but Charlie was already on it.

In the coming minutes they were as silent as they were when Marty had his shit wrecked by Fangophile the Snowmammal. A wolf was on, which was almost surreal. Nearly all the pred ones were fucked over by the establishment for a while now. There was something more, though. He had a smile on his face. An honest to god, genuine grin. Sharp teeth and gums and the works. Avo figured that there was someone with a knife or something off camera, holding him hostage. But this was too real.

Which was odd, considering that another one of them had surely been turned.

She waited, wondering was surely everyone else was.

Who had been hit? Was it someone they knew? Were there fatalities?

But no one’s picture flashed on screen. There was the ‘BREAKING NEWS’ caption underneath the anchor, but as far as Avo was concerned he could have been talking gibberish. She heard no names. Just some rustle and chatter off camera as the wolf talked, hushed into his mic.

What the hell was —

“Sorry for the inconvenience, folks, but we’re with you now.”

So far, so good. Why the hell was he so happy?

Brainwashed by hoofers, maybe. They probably did that. Maybe he was adopted by them as a kid and they trained him to be all self hating.

“The nightmare is over. It’s finally over.”

Wait, what? Avo tilted her head, wishing that she had been listening instead of crafting weird theories about the overly smiley news anchor. She turned. Betty and Al were…in tears? Nah. Couldn’t be.

What?

“Channel 4 Daily News has confirmed that the epidemic plaguing our city has been solved. As we are hearing it now, the savage epidemic appears to have been an elaborate hoax. I repeat, a _hoax_. More to come as the investigation unfolds, but predators and prey alike can now rest easy after this troubling time in our city’s history. My fellow Zootopians, today is a day for celebration.”

Cheers rang out, joy filling everyone around Avo.

Her job was back. And so was her ability to visit any part of the city she pleased.

Everyone had reason to be happy. It was time for celebration, after all. Like the wolf said. Something that they’d be able to tell their kids. Historical. Hysterical, if you were Ozzy, who was laughing either because it was so out of left field that it was funny or because he knew that it would be okay all along. She’d get her employee discount back, as well. Though she couldn’t think of anything to use it on right this minute. Pack Street was going to be smiling for a long, long time.

All those things, just like that. The world was saved. A few months more and lynchings probably would have happened, so their lives were saved as well.

Avo blinked. All this, and she felt like she had gone out and lost her keys.

 

* * *

 

She opened the door to her empty apartment, gripping her keys extra tight. They weren’t lost but something _was_ , though it may have just been a feeling that she couldn’t describe. Still, she knew that it would bother her like crazy — an itch that she couldn’t scratch, so to speak. The lock clicked as she twisted it into place. Extra loud.

Thankfully no food was out and spoiled, but there was an open container filled with protein powder that she had forgotten to close. There were probably ants in it now. Ants, while delicious, weren’t appealing to her alive. And they tasted terrible in protein shakes, judging from that one time she had come across an identical situation to this and decided not to care. Maybe she’d have to feed them to — _someone_ who would eat them. If only she knew someone like that.

The couch was looking mighty inviting. It was a place of relaxation, so that was a given. Now more than ever she had the right to relax if she wanted to. She emptied her pockets (which were stocked with her phone, some loose change and a few suckers) and flopped down onto the soft cushions.

If she had to tell someone about her thoughts on being free (she didn’t have to, since there was no one there and everyone else was outside, probably) she would say something along the lines of “It feels pretty fucking good, to be honest.”

But that would be a lie. It _was_ pretty good. But something was preventing that 'fucking' from coming into the sentence. She kneaded the balls of her feet against the couch, feeling its fabric under her toes and wishing that it could be softer. If only she could buy something to both clean it and make it even comfier to lie on, though it wasn’t  _that_ bad at its job. She’d choose her couch over any other couch any day of the week. Countless nights were spent on top of it. Sleeping, watching TV, having sex, cuddling, pillow talk…

Suddenly she didn’t want to lie down anymore. She stood up and, after taking a moment to listen to the partying outside, decided to get changed into something comfortable so she could join the whole of Zootopia in celebrating the end of the savage epidemic. The fake savage epidemic.

Something was missing. It wasn’t her keys.

Shirts and pants and lingerie lay scattered around her laundry basket, on purpose, because it was inconceivable for her to miss a lazy toss of a fabric ball from across the room. She was much more skilled at throwing things than _that_. After gathering the assorted mess of clothing and putting it in its proper place, she threw on a pair of sweatshorts and a tanktop, taking extra time to examine the contents of her dresser. It was nearly bare, save for a hoodie and a pair of jeans that really needed some washing. She’d have to do laundry tomorrow if she didn’t wanna be gross and reuse shirts more than once like—

She shook her head and walked to the window, where a couple of foxes were busy making out beside the crowd. The todd groped at the other todd’s ass, and from the way that he tensed up she could tell that he was moaning. She rolled her eyes, reaching up to close her blinds. Maybe she could just sleep. No one would blame her. She could join the party when she was at a hundred percent.

The blinds rolled down about halfway, and just before she was about to make a final tug she made eye contact with a black bear, beside the throng of predators but away from the sappy couple. They smiled at each other, Avo not being able to speak for him but feeling a strong sense of solidarity with just about all predators everywhere. She could spare a few minutes, couldn’t she? Sleeping could wait.

Something was still missing, her own voice reminded her.

 _Well_ , she thought, giving the rebellious corner of her mind the imaginary finger, _maybe I can find it outside_.

 

* * *

 

Music played from all sides, filling the streets with catchy beats and lyrics that spoke of happy times ahead. Smiling predators surrounded everything for the first time in a long while. In the month preceding, you’d be hard pressed to find so many in one place, and if you did, you’d be terrified. But now there was no fear. Only the pure rush of relief flowing through a hundred mammals at once.

“So.”

“So.”

“Exciting, isn’t it?” Avo asked, tasting the mojito that someone had asked her to hold. “I mean, everyone else seems to think so.”

“I guess,” said the teen. She was a snow leopard. Weird sight for Pack Street, which was pretty damn warm a lot of the time. Maybe she was just visiting from Tundratown. Or Bearruskia. The teen tapped idly at her phone, regarding the fiesta around her with such a blasé attitude that it almost put the jackal to shame. “Mostly I just wanna go and get ice cream or something.”

Geez. Was this what _she_ was like? Avo sipped at the drink in her hand, feeling thirsty all of a sudden. Nah. She was a lot cooler than that. And less angsty. And smarter. Sipping again, she noticed that the mojito was especially minty. Something that she appreciated. Mammals didn’t use mint enough in things.

“Can I have a sip of that?”

“Are you gonna tell your parents?”

“I don’t know you, anyway.”

“Fair enough,” she laughed awkwardly and handed the glass to the kid. It was immediately handed back to her as the feline made a face. “Yeah, you’ll get a taste for it in two years or so.”

“Two years too soon,” the teen coughed. “Did you know anyone who…”

“Yeah.”

“Who?” the teen’s voice gained its first ounce of interest since Avo had sat down beside her. “I mean, if you wanna like, talk about it. That’s pretty crazy.”

“I guess they’re gonna cure her or whatever now, so it’s okay,” she replied, taking another sip. “You live around here?”

“Nearby. Not on Pack.”

“Oh, well that tiger who owns Pandora’s Box — Pandora — was my boss,” Another sip. She’d have to find another drink soon. It looked like she had vastly underestimated how thirsty she was. “She was close to a few of my friends. Really messed some of us up. But! She’s okay now, which is pretty sweet.”

“You don’t sound too hyped.”

“I’m over the moon and howling down it from the top of my lungs. Trust me,” she rolled her eyes and took another sip. Nothing reached her lips. “I need another drink. Take care of yourself, kid.”

“Don’t call me a kid!”

“Sorry, kid. I call the trash the trash and I call kids kids. I also call kids whiny, but that’s an adjective and not a noun. You’ll learn about it in school eventually,” Avo turned away just as the kid made what was surely an obscene gesture, smiling to herself.

For a moment, nothing was missing. This was her. Complete. She wandered around aimlessly, enjoying the general atmosphere at the place. The vibe coming off of everyone she saw was almost tangible. It reminded her of a theme park. The kind that advertised itself as ‘The Happiest Place in the World’ but really wasn’t, though it was easy to fool yourself into believing it so.

Maybe it was all the nip that the preds on the sidelines were passing around.

Maybe she was just really high.

When she stopped she was in the middle of a crowd, at a loss for what to do and where to go. On her left, a group of predators bantered joyously, pantomiming the actions of “savage” predators and laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the notion, now that the whole concept had been proven wrong. On her right were more couples, talking and flirting. She was surprised that neither of—

Her heart skipped a beat. She decided to walk a little more, find better things to see, but was pulled backwards by a giant black paw that smelled like cigarettes. Betty’s arm held her tight, and as she did her best to look back (she was completely and very tightly held to the wolf’s front) they shared a grin so wide that Avo forgot why she stopped smiling in the first place. A solo cup with ice cold beer was shoved into her paw.

“Hey.”

“Hey!” Betty growled, mostly playful but a third concerned. Oz always called her mama, and right now she was definitely sounding like one. “Why aren’t you partying? You should be just as happy as the rest of us. Happier, than the rest of us. You got your job back and you’re not gonna end up living on my couch.”

“You mean you were gonna let me do that?”

“Quiet. You know how it goes.”

Avo went quiet. “Yeah, I do.”

Betty followed her lead, loosening her grip on the jackal but staying firm. “You okay?”

Being held felt nice, Avo realized, it felt really nice. Still, she didn’t need to show that or say anything. She downed half her beer before voicing a response that wasn’t about how nice Betty’s arms felt. “I’m okay. Promise. Haven’t been getting much sleep.”

“Then sleep,” the wolf commanded, almost biblical. “Nothing to keep you up anymore.”

Avo hummed. “Shouldn’t you be watching Charlie? There’re a lot of unwatched pockets around right now. Actually, shouldn’t you be smoking in a dark corner somewhere?”

“Maybe,” Betty responded. “But right now I’m here.”

There had been a building tension the entire time. Out in the back corner, a wolf was happy. Somewhere nearer, another one was overjoyed. Everywhere there were canines of different builds and colors, overjoyed and feeling a very specific feeling, a feeling that kind of felt like the urge to sing but stronger.

Both Avo and Betty were too engrossed to notice the signs, but then again, they never really needed to. She was about to respond, to tell her beta that she really was okay and didn’t need any babying, when the howl reached her ears. Genetics caused them to break apart, but as the jackal threw her head back to join in she put a paw on Betty’s shoulder, and they howled together at the rising moon.

They finished after some time, neither knew how much, and Betty took a last look at Avo while raising an eyebrow.

Avo shook her head, and left before she could be pulled back. The last of her beer went down her throat, still cold, quenching the eternal thirst that she seemed to have acquired between the hoax announcement and now.

Where else to go? Somewhere with another drink would be nice, but everyone seemed to just _have_ one and no one seemed to be making any. Even when talking about non-alcoholic stuff. Water right now seemed great. Hell, that gross grape soda that Marty was really into seemed reasonable enough.

She walked further away from the apartment, ending up in an alley — almost completely away from Pack Street but still within its bounds — with quiet music playing in the background. The air smelled faintly of drugs, but nothing too crazy was going on. Mammals were scattered off to the side but in the middle of the alley, there was dancing.

This could be the place that she needed to be. Lawn chairs were out. Some radio off to the side played the greatest hits from years ago, drowning out the surprisingly little party noise that could be heard from where they were.

She almost joined one of the lounging preds before she saw him.

Short, and annoying, and with that stupid mask fur pattern striped across his face. Messy headfur and squinty eyes. Slender arms. Great at dancing (because of confidence and not skill), even while holding a full drink. A lazy but elegant gait that was more feline than canine — reasonable, because he really was a feline, but confusing to anyone who didn’t know the whole details behind the taxonomy of Aardwolves.

He looked okay. He was smiling, and Avo could see that he was genuinely happy, which made sense given the circumstances. His body moved smoothly to the beat of the music. His clothes were a little worn but he was never the prim and proper type.

Wait.

No.

Thought after thought flooded in.

That wasn’t him at all. His smile was different. More relaxed, as opposed to bursting at the seams. More than once she had told him that he looked like a stoned raccoon that was stretched too much before god place him on earth. His headfur fell differently across his face when it got messy. It looked like a feather duster gone savage. She could see it better now, after getting a little closer. He didn’t have moves like _that_ , either. He wished he was that sexy. His eyes were different, as well, though not in physical shape. They just looked different — she couldn’t explain. Something about the way that they caught the moonlight. Something stupid.

And his voice was a warm and it clung to her shoulders like a fireplace in the winter. His paws were hot to the touch, like coffee in the morning. He kissed wonderfully. He knew that she was all talk and he knew when to let her push and when to pull her back.

This wasn’t Wolter. She knew Wolter.

Anneke was looking right at her.

Avo swallowed, and swallowed nothing. Her mouth was as dry as the desert. She turned around and walked away, beginning to sprint in sporadic intervals until she was out of the alley, and then sprinting at full speed until she found herself back in her apartment’s lobby.

It was going to happen eventually. The twins were living, breathing members of her pack and they lived in the same apartment. She couldn’t outrun them forever — who said she was running in the first place? That was ridiculous. She was just wondering if she left the stove on. Which she probably did. She did that a lot. Having her apartment burn down would be a major downer so really she was just doing what was right.

What was right was making sure everything was safe. Including her. She’d be safe once she checked her apartment. From Anneke and Wolter and all the thoughts in her head.

She decided that she didn’t need to remember what had just happened, so she willed herself to forget.

And that only made it worse.

 

* * *

 

If she followed the staircase she would arrive at her hall, at which point she’d be able to walk to her room, lock it, and never ever come out. That’s all she had to do. Follow the staircase. No pit stops. Nothing else. Nothing more. Nothing less. All she had to do was follow the staircase, and the staircase would bring her home.

“Hey.”

Avo stopped, but didn’t turn. “I left the stove on.”

“Then let the whole place burn. We’d probably get, like, insurance money or something.”

“That can’t be how it works.”

“There’s only one way we’ll know for sure.”

“That’s not true, either.”

“Look — can you turn around?”

“Okay,” she said. She turned and regarded Anneke’s height, as if in the week spent avoiding her she would have gotten taller somehow. Strawberries and cheap wine filled her nose, as well as a faint hint of arousal, though whatever was causing that was long gone. There was that crazy look in her eyes — the one that she got when she thought Avo was getting more action than her, or when she was jealous — but it was restrained. Like a tiger in a cage. “What’s up? If you’re out of condoms I don’t have any with me, but if you’ll come with me to my room—“

“Can you just fuck my brother already?”

“No.”

Annie threw her head back and groaned, almost in disgust. “It’s not that hard, Avo. Just swing those weirdly curved hips and bat your nonexistent eyelashes and he’ll be back in your arms again.”

“He was never ‘in my arms’,” Avo growled, rolling her eyes. “Now if you’ll excuse me—“

“ _Oh_ my god this isn’t a shitty TV show—“

“Why do people keep saying that?”

“—just please get over yourself and admit that whatever you did, because I know it was you, was bitchy or whatever and then _make_ my brother happy again because he’s been a total downer for a week and I’m _sick of it_ because we have that twin thing. Telegramming—“

“Telepathy.”

“Sure — and I can feel it and it totally sucks. So just get to that party and find him and do the thing that we both know you can do.”

“I can’t,” the jackal admitted.

“You _literally_ can. You’ve apologized to mammals about stupid shit before.”

“Yeah, but—“

“It’s not any different and I can smell the fuckin’ misery on you, Avo. Don’t think you’re fooling anyone,” Anneke managed to sound reassuring whilst being furious. “At least think about it. I think everyone’d be happier if you just stopped denying yourself the chance to actually do some good.”

Avo said nothing. She couldn’t.

“Whatever,” Anneke waved her off. “Maybe next time you can fuck Marty into actually liking you and then shove him away so he can shut up for once.”

She watched as the aardwolf walked down the stairs, across the lobby, open the door, and stroll back into the mass celebration like nothing had happened.

And then she was alone. The stairs seemed like a good enough seat for now, so she sat down and wished that she had a mirror, or something. Her reflection would be nice to check up on. She was sure that there was something wrong with it — nothing in particular crossed her mind, but she was sure.

What would she even say? Hell, why was she following advice given to her by _Anneke_ , of all the mammals who could have been there in the first place? Avo sniffed her arm. Nothing. No misery. Maybe a hint of sadness, which was really all it took now that she was thinking about it.

 _Words_ , Avo thought to herself, grabbing a railing and using it to stand up, I’ll speak words at him and I won’t know what they are until I’m there, so if I’m doing this I better go out that door before I change my mind.

Her feet took her down each step with a normal pace, which was five times too slow for the kind of mindset she was in. With each one she only became more and more self conscious. It was like someone was watching her from far away. There was nowhere she could run.

Pleas from herself to stop, to turn back, to forget that she was even awake for tonight screamed wildly from her mind, to her mind. But she kept walking. With every step the pleas grew in number. She tried her best not to think about it.

Instead, her attention was turned to the lobby. The couches and chairs and even the TV were the same. Some news rerun was playing — giving that brainwashed wolf a chance, probably. Someone put all of the cushions on the ground. Every single one. The whole setup looked like a really low effort prank.

The front door greeted her like an old friend she had a falling out with, and had never talked to since.

“Okay,” Avo said out loud, feeling stupid and wondering if there was anyone behind her. “You can do this. You feel like garbage because you actually treated someone else like garbage, and if you make it better then you’re going to be better. You won’t be garbage anymore. Mostly. You’ll be something fancy like recycled batteries.”

Time to face the music. The music would fear her. She was gonna make the music her bitch and then mount it and fuck it with a strap-on. No one’s resolve was as strong as hers, right now. If she was going to win a resolve fight with someone, she would win.

She was sure of it.

Someone was laughing out there. In the crowd.

The crowd with Wolter. He was out there and she was a massive cunt to him and she was sorry.

And she was going to tell him that.

Her paw twisted the knob.

Click.

She opened it, letting the light come through.

She pushed the door back in.

She let go of the knob, and, not thinking, kicked it mildly hard. She whirled around, one hundred eighty degrees, and ran up the staircase. The walls in her peripherals blurred. The stairs creaked urgently, ushering her up like some kind of an alarm.

She passed her hall, not caring.

No one could possibly be on the roof. Who would be up on the roof?

 

* * *

 

The doorknob twisted easily, and she pushed her way to the top of the apartment, breathing heavily and very much in need for a drink of water. She closed the door behind her and walked to the middle of the roof, smelling bananas and freshly paved tar. Indigo had spread throughout the sky, and the stars shone brightly. Up in the sky, one shone brighter than the rest. Saturn, Avo remembered. That was Saturn and it was really fucking far away.

“Hey,” a voice said, hushed and under its breath. It was a calm slur. A drawl, really. It’d sound better up close, and next to her ear. “I take it you heard?”

“Everyone did,” she replied. “Why aren’t you down there?”

There was a lump in her throat that she couldn’t swallow.

“I wanted to nap after I heard and then celebrate when I was at a hundred percent,” he said.

Avo laughed tunelessly, and found the stupidity in herself to turn around and face him.

And there he was. Wolter stood with his paws in his hoodie pockets, tail twitchy, like it didn’t know what to make of the situation. One of his feet bounced up and down to the beat of a song from down below. He stood there, nonchalant, acting like the fact that he was in her line of sight _wasn’t_ a big deal.

Suddenly she couldn’t look him in the eye. She swivelled her vision back to the skyline of the city.

“Saturn’s up there,” she tried to say, but ended up spitting out an incoherent mumble.

“It is,” he said, understanding completely. “I’m still not even sure it’s Saturn though.”

“Yeah.”

“Avo, why are you here?”

She thought about telling him. Then she thought about not telling him. It would be easy, wouldn’t it? There was booze in her system. She was drunk and wandering, and happened upon him by pure coincidence. No running away involved. No apologies backed out on.

He’d believe it.

Even a simple ‘I was just wondering where you were’ would work, and then she would be free to leave. She could continue on with her life.

It was just a thing, after all. A thing that happened. It started at one point, and then it went on for a little, and then it ended. She could lie and then all would be done and she would return to her life. Her normal life.

Her life. Alone.

Once she would have been fine with that. Once.

Not now. She didn’t need anyone else but need meant the bare minimum and honestly she wanted something more.

“It’s weird seeing you alone,” she rasped. “I…you know — there’s a lot I should be saying right now, isn’t there? But I guess I can go with an apology. I’m sorry, Wolter.”

There was silence. Avo quivered, and attempted to fill it. “I know I can be the worst. But I want you to forgive me. Like _actually_ forgive me and then I want to go to a movie, and dinner, and then tell people that we went on a date. Look, I’m—I’m uh, not asking for your hand in marriage or whatever. I don’t wanna move in. I just want a chance. All I’m asking for is the smallest amount of time that you can think of and then if you still think that I’m the worst we can just be friends again. Or not even friends. We’ll still have to see each other at meetings and stuff but I won’t even look at you.”

Her eyes were closed. Screwed tight. “Please. I don’t wanna beg here but I will if I have to. And if it helps, you know,”

 

She was talking to a stupid, short-stack, pred trash man-slut that had less of an IQ than Remmy Cormo and talked like he was country trash that gained the city accent but not the cadence but was still sweet enough to let her steal his food and talk shit to him during sex and he was really on his way to knowing her the best out of anyone else.

 

“I fucking think I could love you.”

 

Heat touched her paw. It wrapped around her fingers and clung to her fur like a protective shell. A head flopped against her arm.

“Don’t cry, puppy. I told you that we didn’t have to go through the dramatics and you do this anyway.”

The paws grabbing her paw lifted it up, and soft (but admittedly a little chapped) lips kissed it tenderly. A tongue brushed the fur on the tips of her fingers and on reflex she pulled away, smiling. “Stop that.”

“I won’t. Not until you crouch down. I can’t reach you from here.”

“…Okay.”

Avo lowered herself to a squat and opened her eyes. The sky was still there (though it’s not like she expected it to fall) but her makeup was running. She let Wolter kiss her face, sloppily dabbing her tear streaked cheek with his lips and the tip of his tongue.

“You’re such a baby,” he scolded. “A normal ‘sorry Wolt I won’t do it again’ would have been fine, you know. It’s not like that’s the first time someone’s blown up at me for stupid shit. I live with my sister.”

“Can I re-do?”

“No. I liked it. And you know what?“

They sat there, blinking, until the aardwolf made a gesture to let Avo know that she was supposed to say something.

“Oh! Uh. What.”

“I feel exactly the same,” he whispered huskily, and turned her face towards his.

Smek. The sound of their lips making contact made her both snicker and want to cry. They drew away, and kissed again. And again. But she was too distracted. Too off balance. The pressure had been coming on for a while now but her side that wasn’t being kissed by Wolt gave way.

They fell together, and hit the ground hard.

Neither minded the pain.

 

* * *

 

Time was a weird, crazy thing. Time slowed for the moments that were really good and the moments that were really bad, and it seemed that for everything in between, time ran at a full sprint on all fours. Here and now, Avo wished that it would pass faster. Like it did in the month following the Nighthowler Hoax. That was just a blur of kisses and awkward conversations with Anneke at breakfast.

Time was that friend who brought other friends to dinner and left you there in awkward silence with acquaintances you had no interest in. She didn’t want to know her counter as well as she did. Ditto for the gaudy displays exhibiting adult toys that, after time, she knew every single detail of.

Sighing, she slumped against her counter and pulled out her phone. No one was in the store, anyway. Dora wasn’t there to admonish her either. The brightness of the screen made her eyes water slightly as she turned it on, feeling pleasantly surprised at the fact that she was closer to the end of her shift than she imagined.

In a shocking turn of events, Avo found herself excited for dinner at the local Bug Burga. It had been much too long a day, and enough had happened that eating a bunch of greasy food would most likely make her feel better. In addition to the company.

Hopefully, he’d be on time. He probably would.

The door opened, and footsteps padded over to the counter, creeping up behind it. A soft thud rang out from behind her as someone sat on it.

Oh. He was early. Her tail wagged as she tried to sound unexcited. “I still have fifteen minutes left.”

“Call in sick,” he suggested.

“You have to do that before you show up, unfortunately. Though maybe there’s a chance you’ve given me the herp or something. My itchy vag could be flaring up and I could leave in a bunch of pain.”

“Gross.”

“Right? If you were my boss you probably wouldn’t want to talk about it too much.”

“So…”

Avo sat up and looked at the aardwolf sitting on her counter. A small part of her wanted to get him off her property, but she ignored it in favor of the bigger part that wanted him to stay there. She shrugged. “Gotta make money so I can accommodate your wild appetite.”

Wolter hummed in agreement. “Alright.”

“Sorry.”

“I’ll wait here with you.”

“What?” she tiled her head. “Why.”

“You’re clearly miserable here without me,” he replied, smirking roguishly. “It would be rude to leave you here all by your lonesome. I know you don’t like it when you’re alone.”

“Untrue, but thanks.”

The jackal slumped back onto the glass, turning her head so she could still look up at Wolter. His legs swung back and forth idly as he stared back. They were simple mammals. They knew what they wanted and so they took it for themselves and were happy, minus a few complications.

“You okay?”

“More than that, Wolt.” Her phone buzzed happily. Dora telling her that she could close up if she wanted. She grabbed his hand, feeling like she could hold it for a while before getting only a little pissed off, and grinned at him. “Come on, let's get some food or something. Maybe we can have Rex spike it with steroids or something so you can actually get to a normal height.”

He tilted his head. “You’re really happy.”

“ _Tail-wagging_ happy.”

“Anything I should be worried about?”

“No.”

“Well, can we get ice cream, then?”

“Am I your mom?”

“If you _wanted_ —“

“Rhetorical. I dunno. It’ll go to my hips.”

“I _like_ your hips. Please?”

“Are you going to keep begging for this?”

Her paw squeezed his.

Wolter’s smile grew as he squeezed back. “Yes.”

“Good,” Avo helped him off, still grinning. “Good. I’m counting on that. You keep on asking for things, and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, puppy.”


End file.
